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david@davidheathfield.co.uk
0044 +(0)1392 660562 CreativeCommunicators |
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Schools, Special Schools,
PRUs |
Teacher Development I run
teacher education workshops (see sample workshops below) and teach on teacher
training courses at I
presented at the 2005 and 2006 ETP Live Conferences and gave the closing
plenary at the 2005 English UK Teachers Conference. I presented at the 2006
and 2007 APPI Conferences in I
also presented and ran workshops at the 2006 Yuce Schools Conference in Participant
Feedback: “The
activities are motivating…space for creativity.” “Learners
are encouraged to use their imagination.” “I’ll
use drama in my future teaching.” “Shy
students can be motivated.” “It can
be applied to my own teaching context to create better interaction between
students and teachers as well as students and students.” “These
activities can be used as an investigating tool before, and as evaluating
tool at the end of the lesson.” “I
felt more and more comfortable, interested and feeling like doing/using it
myself.” “I
always like learning by doing because I can feel the effectiveness of
activities.” A
range of sample workshops which can be provided as one-off sessions or as a
series of workshops which build on each other: Bringing
personalised speaking alive: some simple drama techniques Students bring so much with them into the classroom. Their lives
are our richest resource. Explore techniques which make it easier for
students to speak and listen actively to each other in a supportive
environment. Bring alive students’ outside experiences, relationships,
conversations and ideas in the classroom in a safe, positive and supportive
way. Improvised
roleplay: creating and exploring characters and situations Students are creative when they are given a clear and simple
framework. Some roleplay
activities involve students changing roles at least twice. They generate
positive energy and enable students to explore situations from different
perspectives. In other activities students express one character’s views and
feelings in greater depth. Drama for
practising functional language: everything from offers to warnings Strong feelings such as affection, anger and mistrust are part of
real life but they are hard to express in the classroom without using
roleplay. Look at a variety of drama activities which can be used to practise
functional and situational language. Nothing need be left unexplored:
encouraging, persuading, regretting, refusing, complaining, negotiating,
showing compassion, breaking delicate news etc. Spontaneous
and collaborative storytelling and dramatising: yes,
we do all have imagination Setting the scene, inviting
input, turntaking and roleplay all facilitate creative and spontaneous group
storytelling. Explore the use of simple props and background music to inspire
students to make stories. A brand new story will be told in the course of
this workshop. How to tell a story: teachers are the ideal live listening resource
for our students. How do I make a story my own
and how do I prepare to tell it? Try out some simple techniques which help to
enliven your unscripted telling of traditional, modern and anecdotal tales.
PREPARATION: bring a 3-minute story you know that you’d like to tell a couple
of other teachers before the end of the workshop: any genre will do. Music and song
as stimulus for improvised role-play, visualisation and creativity. Looking at the value of making the most of students' creativity.
Ideas to be explored include: spontaneous roleplay based on the characters,
relationships and situations described in song lyrics; creating new verses to
a song; letting a piece of music take us on an individual journey; being
guided by a piece of film soundtrack through a collaborative and creative
storymaking process. Other
workshop titles include: Everyday expressions: making
social conversation more natural Teaching conversation skills Personalising grammar
practice and review activities Drama activities for Business
speaking skills Preparing the voice: Benefit from exploring and developing your vocal range and learn how
to make the most of it in your teaching. Method
of working The
workshop involves trying out activities and exploring how such activities can
be adapted to participants’ teaching contexts. Presentation of rationale and
exchanges of experiences, responses and views are also integral to the
process. Outcomes You
will have gained a practical insight into how to build your students’
confidence and help them develop their conversation skills. You will also
have learnt a great deal (in a positive, non-threatening way!) about your
fellow participants as people (as well as teachers). Participants Teachers
of all disciplines (activities are especially suitable for tutorial time,
drama, PSHE, English, TESOL/TEFL, foreign language teaching) |
