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COURSES AND WORKSHOPS FOR TEACHERS

Our objectives

All of our courses and workshops are highly interactive, fun and practical.  The emphasis is on participation.  Over the years we’ve attended many talks, training sessions and conferences that were more like lectures, and our philosophy is different.  Once the course has finished, all the session notes and handouts will be available online.  You’ll be able to study supplementary material there too.  The idea behind this is to enable you to take part fully at the time.  We believe that learning by doing is a much more memorable experience.

These courses and workshops will help with your own professional development.  In turn, this will help to foster a growth mindset with your students as your lessons become more engaging.

Using Theatre and Drama Techniques in English Language Teaching

Teachers participating in a devised theatre workshop
Chris Gesthuysen doing a drama in the classroom workshop

 
A  devised theatre workshop for the CEP in Isla Cristina, and turning your class into a theatre at Escuela de Verano MEVISUR in Malaga

Theatre made by teachers for teachers. We’ve worked all over Spain with our hands-on, very practical courses and workshops on bringing the theatre into the classroom. These are aimed at teachers of EFL/ESL, primary and secondary education who want to use elements of drama in their teaching. In the workshops you’ll learn about:

Drama and theatre across the curriculum

Warmers and icebreakers

Devised theatre

Successful role-play and character creation

Ideas on how to turn your classroom into a theatre

Improvisation

 

Using Puppets in the Language-Learning Classroom

john Harrop and teachers; using puppets in the primary classroom
Teacher demonstrating her sock puppet for infants

 
With teachers in Seville University, and a sock comes to life in IES Torreón del Alcázar, Toledo!

Puppets are a low-tech, cheap and incredibly flexible resource to use.  We guarantee you’ll enjoy yourself, learn lots of new skills and go away feeling inspired to use them in your classroom.  The workshops are aimed at teachers with all levels of experience and from all educational sectors (infant, primary, secondary, EFL etc).  Some of the aspects we cover are:

Choosing a puppet

Puppet manipulation

How to bring your puppet to life

Using puppets in CLIL

Making simple puppets

Making simple puppet theatres from recycled materials

Green screen puppetry and simple puppet animation

 

Storytelling

John Harrop storytelling for adults
Chris Gesthuysen training teachers in storytelling 'The Gigantic Turnip'

Workshops at CARLEE (Centro Aragonés de Lenguas Extranjeras para la Educación) and the Escuela de Verano MEVISUR 2019, Malaga

So why do storytelling?  Well, storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to influence, teach and inspire the listener.  Not only that, it also gives learners the opportunity to hear language in context.  Students of all ages – from early years to adults – will enjoy listening to them, and enjoyment is key to learning.  In these courses and workshops we’ll look at how to bring stories alive, and how to create an engaging and immersive experience that your students will love.  Some of the aspects we cover are:

Why use storytelling in class?

Telling stories with and without a book

Different storytelling techniques

How to engage and maintain student interest

Body language

Use of voice

Using storytelling in CLIL

Digital storytelling

 

Encouraging Creativity in the Classroom

John Harrop & teachers playing with balloons
Collaboration activity on teacher-training course

Teaching creativity to teachers at a weekend course organised by the CEP Huelva-Isla Cristina

Along with critical thinking and emotional intelligence, creativity is one of the most in-demand soft skills these days.  We strongly believe that young learners can be taught to be more creative.  In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn activities that you can do with your classes and in other spheres too.  We’ll cover:

How to teach and encourage your students to be more creative

Encouraging the use of 21st-century skills

Learning to think outside the box

Increasing collaboration in the classroom

 

Team-Building

Trust circle lap-sit; teambuilding activity
Teachers participating in team-building activity

Workshop for teachers at GetBrit in Toledo

Along with creativity, being able to collaborate successfully is another skill that is in high demand.  At the beginning of the academic year, it’s really good idea to help your new teachers bond and build a team.  A happy workplace is a more productive workplace!  Or perhaps you find that half-way through the term, your teachers are starting to flag, and could do with some team-building input.  In these workshops we also do activities that you can do with your students.  Some of the aspects we cover are:

Ideas on how to get the team working together

Team-building for teachers

Promoting team-spirit and cooperative activities

Development of social skills

Cuisenaire Rods

John Harrop using cuisenaire rods in the classroom
Set of brightly-coloured wooden Cuisenaire rods

Using Cuisenaire rods with teachers at GetBrit in Toledo

Originally intended for teaching maths, this little-used tool has great potential in English language teaching. In these workshops we look at:

Use of rods in grammar, storytelling and pronunciation.

Tips and practical advice on using rods

Making and Using Masks

Teachers in paper character masks made in the workshop
Teachers posing in Trestle theatre's Larva masks

 
Working with Spanish secondary school teachers with emoji and Larva masks, on a course run by CTIF Madrid

Masks are a great way of bringing classrrom roleplays to life.  In these courses and workshops we look at:

Introduction to masks

Mask-making

Character creation using masks

Full-face and half-face masks

English for Teachers

Are you a non-native speaker and teacher of English?  As English teachers with more than 60 years of EFL experience between us, we can help you.  We offer courses tailored to classroom language, in addition to general language courses to help bring you up to B2.

As examiners ourselves, we’re extremely familiar with all the main exam suites (Trinity, Aptis, Cambridge, etc).  So if you need extra tuition, or simply some help with preparing for a an exam, contact us through this site or on social media.

 

Online courses coming soon!

Send us a message via the Contact Us page, and Marge will let you know when they go live!

You can look at our Facebook Page and YouTube channel to see some photos and videos, read some feedback and get an idea of what we’ve been doing.

Marge, our Public Relations puppet!

 

Here are just some of the places where we’ve run teacher-training courses and workshops – so don’t delay, contact us today!

Universidad de Salamanca                            
Kids College, Academia de Idiomas, Ceuta    
Hay Festival, Segovia
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Mundo Clases, Sevilla
Centro Local de Idiomas de Badajoz              
Consejería de Educación, Toledo                
Consejería de Educación, Ciudad Real
Get Brit! Toledo
The English Business, Sevilla
Idiomas Teruel, Zaragoza                                
Trinity College London – teacher conventions in Milan, Rome, Naples, Bari & Catania
Trinity College London – training in Tuscany                          
TECS, El Puerto de Santa María                      
Universidad de Oviedo                                  
Universitat de Barcelona, Facultat d’Educació                                              
Nabss – National Association of British Schools in Spain                                
Fundacio Escola Cristiana de Catalunya
Colegio Internacional Meres, Asturias
La Salle, El Puerto de Santa María      
Centro Universitario de Mérida
Associació de Professors d’Anglés de València
Colegio Almedina, Córdoba
CEP Bollullos / Valverde
CEP de Cantabria
CEP Jerez de la Frontera
CEP Sevilla
CEP Baeza
CEP Ronda
CEP Cuevas-Olula
CEP Marbella-Coín
CEP Manacor
CEP Málaga
CEP Córdoba
CEP Huelva-Isla Cristina                                
CEP Lora de Rio
CEP Guadix                                       
CEP d’Inca CEFIRE Valencia
CTIF Madrid-Capital                                  
CTIF Madrid-Sur                                        
CTIF Madrid-Este                                          
CTIF Madrid-Oeste  
SAFA – Linares Foovy – Escuela de Idiomas de la Fundación Victoria, Malaga
Escuela de Verano MEVISUR, Malaga
International Teacher Guild, India
Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea              
Centro Arrupe, Valencia                          
TESOL Spain, Conference Madrid
TESOL Spain, Conference Sevilla 
TESOL France, Conference Paris
GRETA conferencias en Jaén, Granada y Malaga
APAC – Associació de Professors d’Anglès de Catalunya
English Language Institute, Sevilla
English Wink, Valencia
ACEIA – Asociación de Centros de Enseñanza de Idiomas de Andalucía
Colegio de San Francisco de Paula, Sevilla
Universidad de Cantabria            
Universidad de Zaragoza, Facultad de Educación
Colegio Sagrado Corazón, Valladolid            
Universidad Loyola Sevilla                    
Agora Lledó International School, Castellon
Universidad de Sevilla
CEIP José Soriano Ramos, Vila-real    
British Council in Madrid & Valencia    
Colegio Altocastillo, Jaén
Universidad Loyola Andalucía
The English Book, Belgrade, Serbia
ELTA Conference, Serbia
META Conference, Moldova