#KELTChat 1st November 2015, 8-9pm KST: Using holidays in the classroom

This post is a preview for the upcoming #keltchat one hour Tweet chat on Sunday evening from 8 until 9pm KST. The topic of the chat is using holidays in the classroom.

A teacher doesn’t need to look far too find a lesson based on a holiday at this time of year. And those holidays are more often than not Western ones. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to suggest that all this holidaying in ELT classrooms the world over is done with a great deal of critical examination.

So here is #keltchat to step into the breach and ponder aloud why and how we can best bring seasonal good cheer into our classrooms. This pondering will be conducted along the following lines:

Do you use holidays in class? Why? How? Which ones?
Is using holidays really as popular as Breathy thinks it is it seems? Why?
Culture is probably important here, but what are the important cultural insights that holidays give us?
Are holidays popular because they give us an opportunity to have fun with students? How important is this? How does it compare to other kinds of fun?
Are there any downsides or things to be cautious of in using holidays in the classroom?
If we want to connect holiday themed lessons to specific language items, what would those items be?

The questions above are a guideline only, and diversions, distractions and tangents are most welcome.

We hope to see you on Sunday. If you have any questions, please get in touch.

The #KELTChat Team

Alex (@breathyvowel)
Anne (@annehendler)
David (@davidharbinson)
Dayle (@daylemajor)
Michael (@michaelegriffin)
Tim (@timhampson)

#KELTChat Slowburn: “Reflecting on the KOTESOL International Conference (and others)” (Tuesday, October 20th, 11am-6pm KST)

Apologies for the lack of #KELTChat Twitter chat action recently. This was largely due to the fact that #KELTChat folks have been out and about in the real world doing some live #KELTChat sessions. One of these sessions was at the KOTESOL International Conference at COEX on the 10th and 11th October. This conference is also the subject of Tuesday’s chat. We’d like to know if you went, what you saw, what you learned and how you felt about it all. If you didn’t go, this chat might also be a good place to catch up on anything that you missed, and to share any other recent conference going experiences.

This chat is a Slowburn chat, meaning that it takes place over a much longer time than regular Twitter chats. We hope people will dip in and out of the chat throughout the day as their schedules allow; we don’t expect anyone to be involved for the whole 7 hours.

Some general questions to consider: 

• What were some of the sessions that you enjoyed?
• What are the three most important things that you learned?
• Did you do anything different the following Monday?
• What other aspects of the conference (aside from the sessions) did you enjoy?
• What would you say to someone attending the conference for the first time?
• Do you feel different about conference going as you get more experienced?
• What are good ways to get to know other teachers at conferences?
• What makes a good session in general?
• If you presented, what advice would you give to future presenters?

We hope to see you in the chat on Tuesday.