Discover what's new or coming soon, including upcoming lessons and resources and product feature updates. 

Announcements

<h1>Introducing Individual Student Assignments</h1>

Great news, teachers!

As of today, you can now select which individual students receive specific assignments within any class.&nbsp;

<h3>Here&#39;s how it works:</h3>

<ul>
	<li>Click on a lesson, video, or flashcard set in your Prepping or Teaching lane within any of your classes</li>
	<li>A modal will open with your assignment preferences for that lesson&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Click the &quot;Students&quot; tab in the top navigation of the modal</li>
	<li>Switch the setting from &quot;All students&quot; to &quot;Some students&quot;</li>
	<li>Select the students you want to assign the lesson to&nbsp;and remember to hit &quot;Save&quot; inside the modal before closing it</li>
</ul>

Only the selected students will see the assignment inside their class dashboard.

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C5BgjG7wtaI?si=I4waw7z14JkLaeer" width="640"></iframe></div>

We know that a lot of you have been asking for this feature for a while now. So thanks for your patience, and we hope it&#39;s a big help!

All the best, 
Ben :)

Founder, CEO at Ellii

Introducing Individual Student Assignments

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Tour around the ELT conference circuit as our team shares conference highlights and session reviews.

Conferences

Speaking at an English language teaching convention is an excellent way to develop professionally and share your ideas with the world. Maybe you&#39;ve been inspired by speakers at a recent conference or perhaps you need motivation to attend an&nbsp;in-person event down the road.&nbsp;

In this blog post, I&rsquo;ll explore tips for finding the right conference and writing a successful speaker proposal.&nbsp;

<h2>Finding the right conference</h2>

When it comes to ELT conferences, there are so many to choose from. Which one you select will depend on a number of factors.&nbsp;

Firstly, consider how easy and cost-effective it is to travel there. I&rsquo;ve always coveted a trip to TESOL in the US, but so far it&rsquo;s been highly impractical and overly expensive to make that happen.&nbsp;

Online or hybrid events are a good alternative. These are&nbsp;perfect opportunities to network internationally and share your message with the world&nbsp;without having to leave home. They&nbsp;also have the added advantage of saving time. Travel days and time spent at conferences can really eat into working hours, which can be a big consideration if you&rsquo;re not getting paid to attend.&nbsp;

Smaller local conferences are a great place to start, especially if you are speaking for the first time. A room with 20&ndash;40 delegates, possibly familiar and friendly faces, will ease you in gently and allow you to gain confidence.&nbsp;

<h2>Deciding what to speak about</h2>

Every teacher has something important to say. Each educational context is unique and sharing what has worked for you can inspire and support others.&nbsp;

<img alt="Emily Bryson ELT at IATEFL 2023" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3132/content_Emily-IATEFL-Presentation.jpeg" />

Emily Bryson presenting on teacher well-being at IATEFL 2023 in Harrogate. Learn more about Emily&#39;s thoughts on the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/activity-to-boost-confidence-and-well-being">inner troll here</a>.

Presentation topics at conferences are often limitless. Think about what you&rsquo;ve been working on recently. It could be:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>A class project</li>
	<li>Action research</li>
	<li>Your favorite teaching activities</li>
	<li>A problem you&#39;ve solved</li>
	<li>A collaboration with other organizations</li>
	<li>Content you&rsquo;ve developed</li>
</ul>

Some conferences have themes. For example, inclusive learning or removing barriers to learning. It&rsquo;s important that your topic fits with the overall theme.&nbsp;

<img alt="Emily Bryson's sketchnote of the Coffee Talk on Simplicity for ElliiCon 2022" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3135/content_2022-10-11_Emily-Bryson-Drawings_01.png" />

In 2022, the theme of #ElliiCon&nbsp;was Simplicity. Emily sketchnoted the Coffee Talk that the Publishing team hosted to kick things off.&nbsp;During the conference, speakers focused on hacks, simple activities, and tools to make teaching a little less hectic. You can watch the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP0N5nuiA3aMqdcebjNOfZUGdOEGRmrms">recordings</a> on our NEW Ellii for Teachers YouTube channel: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@elliiteachers">youtube.com/@elliiteachers</a>. Stay tuned for the 2023 theme&nbsp;and be sure to join Ellii for this free online conference in September!

Whatever you decide to speak about, I recommend choosing something you know well and that you are genuinely passionate about. Your knowledge and enthusiasm will shine through during the session.&nbsp;

<h2>Staying informed</h2>

Once you&rsquo;ve selected which conference you want to speak at, it&rsquo;s a good idea to follow the organization on socials. This is where they&rsquo;ll post information about their call for proposals.&nbsp;

If the conference has a mailing list, I recommend signing up&nbsp;so you don&rsquo;t miss any important information or dates.&nbsp;

<h2>Writing the conference proposal</h2>

Each conference has a slightly different application process. It&rsquo;s important to read the speaker proposal guidelines thoroughly before you apply&nbsp;and to get your application in on time.&nbsp;

In general, for English language teaching conferences, I&rsquo;ve found that most calls for proposals require the following:&nbsp;

A title: Usually 10 words or less. The catchier, the better.&nbsp;

An abstract: This is usually around 50&ndash;100 words and is a summary or your session. This is the text that participants will read when choosing the&nbsp;sessions they will attend. It&rsquo;s a good idea to make it as appealing as possible. Including keywords will make it easier for delegates to find you in a&nbsp;search&nbsp;if the conference program&nbsp;is online or in PDF format.&nbsp;

A summary: This is more detailed information for the conference organizers. It&rsquo;s likely to be 200&ndash;500 words, but could be more. Here is where you can give information about the type of presentation you&rsquo;re doing, what activities you&rsquo;re including, and whether you&rsquo;ll be promoting a product or giving access to openly available content.&nbsp;

A bio: In this section, you get to briefly summarize yourself. Give the key points of interest and focus on your professional life. I tend to tweak my bio based on what I&rsquo;m talking about and my audience. You may wish to include things like how long you&rsquo;ve been in ELT, what roles you&rsquo;ve played (e.g., teacher, materials developer, researcher), your qualifications, any publications, and specific areas of interest or expertise you may have.&nbsp;

<blockquote>
My top tip is to save all your conference applications in one place. This way, if you speak about something similar in the future, you can easily tweak them.&nbsp;&nbsp;
</blockquote>

It&rsquo;s also a good idea to ask a friend to read it over for you. Ask them to check that it meets the guidelines, it&rsquo;s clear what the session will be about, and it sounds interesting enough to attend.&nbsp;

<h2>Session types</h2>

You may be asked to specify whether you&rsquo;re delivering a talk or a workshop. If you intend to speak for the duration of your allotted time, select talk. If you&rsquo;re planning something more interactive&nbsp;where participants work together or discuss certain aspects of the topic, choose workshop.&nbsp;

<h2>Funding and getting paid</h2>

This is the tricky bit. The majority of ELT conferences don&rsquo;t have the budget to pay all their speakers. Often it&rsquo;s only the plenary speakers that receive a payment or funding for expenses (e.g., travel, accommodation, and food).&nbsp;However, it&rsquo;s also common to get a reduced rate or free pass to the conference itself in exchange for speaking.&nbsp;

In order to get paid, you could do one of the following:&nbsp;

Ask your boss:&nbsp;If you&rsquo;re speaking about a topic related to your organization, they may have a budget to pay your conference fees and expenses. They may also be able to either pay you or compensate for your time through additional vacation days at a later date.&nbsp;

Represent a publisher or other organization:&nbsp;If you&rsquo;ve been working for a larger ELT organization, they may want you to represent them and deliver teacher training based on one of their products or services. You could approach them, stating the benefits from their perspective.&nbsp;

Ask the conference organizer:&nbsp;Sometimes there is a budget to pay speakers or to supplement their travel and accommodation fees. It can be worth asking.&nbsp;

Look for scholarships: Large international conferences, such as IATEFL, have a range of scholarship opportunities. Get organized and research these early. They are offered for a range of reasons, such as:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Where you live (e.g., Africa, Latin America)</li>
	<li>Your teaching experience (e.g., IATEFL has one for early career teachers)</li>
	<li>Your area of expertise (e.g., pronunciation, research, inclusion)</li>
</ul>

Stay positive when you&rsquo;re applying for these scholarships and consider applying for more than one. Some are oversubscribed, but others struggle to find the right applicant each year. It&rsquo;s often a game of being the right person at the right time!&nbsp;

<blockquote>
What are your top tips for applying to speak at an ELT conference? Feel free to share them in the comments. We&rsquo;d love to hear from you.&nbsp;
</blockquote>

Speaking at an ELT Conference: Demystifying the Application Process

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Stay up-to-date with ELT trends and ideas with articles from experts and teachers in the field.

Articles

As I write this, I&rsquo;m preparing for a long-distance bike ride. I&rsquo;ll be cycling 250 miles between Glasgow and Harrogate to raise money for the <a href="https://www.handsupproject.org/" target="_blank">Hands Up Project</a>.&nbsp;

It&rsquo;s the third time I&rsquo;ve cycled to IATEFL. In 2022, I cycled from Glasgow to Belfast (via ferry) for <a href="https://www.amalaeducation.org/">Amala Education</a> and in 2019 from Glasgow to Liverpool for <a href="https://codeyourfuture.io/" target="_blank">Code Your Future</a>.&nbsp;

Each time, people have donated generously and then commented in awe:

<ul>
	<li>&quot;I just don&rsquo;t know how you can do that.&quot;</li>
	<li>&quot;I&rsquo;d never be fit enough.&quot;&nbsp;</li>
	<li>&quot;You&rsquo;re an amazing human.&quot;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

However, I&rsquo;m not any more amazing than any other human. I&rsquo;m also not even superfit. What gets me to my destination is my growth mindset.&nbsp;

<img alt="Emily Bryson biking to IATEFL" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3128/content_content_Emily-bike.jpg" />

<h2>What is a growth mindset?</h2>

A growth mindset is having the self-belief that you can succeed at life&rsquo;s challenges. It&rsquo;s about having&nbsp;the confidence to try new things, push yourself, and learn from mistakes. People with a growth mindset believe that they can achieve anything if they try hard enough.&nbsp;

The opposite is a fixed mindset. This is when someone doesn&rsquo;t believe that they can do something, so they avoid&nbsp;it or give&nbsp;up when things get difficult. People with a fixed mindset may believe that their skills and abilities are unchangeable.&nbsp;

<h2>Why is a growth mindset important for students?</h2>

Confidence is crucial for language learning. Students who believe that they can learn to develop their skills, memorize new words, and communicate fluently are much more likely to succeed.&nbsp;

These learners also tend to be more self-directed, motivated, and resilient. When tasks are difficult, they&rsquo;ll find a way to complete them rather than giving up.

<h2>Why is a growth mindset important for teachers?</h2>

As teachers, we are role models. When students see someone who believes in themselves (and in them),&nbsp;this inadvertently gives them confidence.&nbsp;

Giving students praise and&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-grade-feed" target="_blank">supportive feedback</a>&nbsp;while&nbsp;encouraging them to develop new skills can have a huge impact on student&rsquo;s self-belief and mental well-being.&nbsp;

From a professional development perspective, cultivating a growth mindset is key to learning new teaching skills or making career advances.&nbsp;

<h2>How can we boost our learners&#39; (and our own) growth mindset?</h2>

Positive self-talk is the key to a growth mindset. We need to be kind and reassure ourselves (and our learners) that anything is possible with effort.&nbsp;

I&rsquo;ve had moments when I&rsquo;m cycling uphill into horizontal rain. The only option is to continue and the best way to reach the destination is to pedal as hard as possible. In moments like this, I have mantras:

<ul>
	<li>&quot;Just keep pushing.&quot;</li>
	<li>&quot;I can do this.&quot;</li>
</ul>

I&rsquo;ve adopted similar mantras when I have multiple deadlines or an overwhelming to do list:

<ul>
	<li>&quot;Keep going.&quot;&nbsp;</li>
	<li>&quot;One more.&quot;</li>
</ul>

I remember once reading an article by Juliana Buhring, a round-the-world cyclist. She mentioned that she finds reframing her thoughts invaluable when things get tough. Instead of &quot;This is awful,&quot; reframe it to &quot;This is fun&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;I&rsquo;m definitely learning something today.&quot;&nbsp;

This can be particularly helpful when it comes to mistakes. For some learners, mistakes can be demotivating and anxiety inducing. However, in reality, they are the <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tesol-2023-in-portland-top-takeaway">best learning opportunities</a>.&nbsp;

Whenever my learners make a mistake, I&rsquo;ll respond with &quot;Oh good! I&rsquo;m so glad you did that. That&#39;s a really common mistake. Now we can talk about it and practice.&quot;

You can also support your learners&nbsp;and your inner voice&nbsp;by reframing with the word &quot;yet.&quot;

For example:&nbsp;

<blockquote>
Student: I can&rsquo;t do this.&nbsp;

Teacher: You mean, you can&rsquo;t do this YET?

Student: I don&rsquo;t know how to use narrative tenses.

Teacher: You mean, you don&rsquo;t know how to use narrative tenses YET?
</blockquote>

This instantly demonstrates that skills are there to be developed. It&rsquo;s only a matter of time and hard work.&nbsp;

You may also like this post about switching off your inner troll and paying more attention to your <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/activity-to-boost-confidence-and-well-being" target="_blank">inner angel</a>.&nbsp;

<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/activity-to-boost-confidence-and-well-being"><img alt="inner devil vs inner angel" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3127/content_content_content_Screen_Shot_2022-05-24_at_1.32.44_PM.jpg" /></a>

<blockquote>
Share a comment with Ellii. How do you feel about growth mindset? Is it something that comes naturally to you? How do you support your learners to be positive and confident about developing new skills?
</blockquote>

The Importance of a Growth Mindset for Learning & Teaching

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Learn how to make the most of your Ellii subscription with tips from our publishing team.

Teaching with Ellii

<h2>CLB, PBLA, LINC &amp;&nbsp;Ellii&nbsp;</h2>

Hi,&nbsp;I&#39;m Jen Artan! Since I came on board the Ellii team more than a year ago, I&rsquo;ve been&nbsp;helping to&nbsp;develop LINC materials for our content library. I&#39;ve also been working&nbsp;to ensure that our resources are calibrated to the correct Canadian Language Benchmark&nbsp;(CLB) levels&nbsp;and that there is a wide range of competencies and skills represented in our database. &nbsp;

<img alt="Jen Artan from Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3123/content_Headshot_Jen_Ellii.jpg" />

Jen Artan, Ellii&#39;s CLB Materials Writer &amp; Presenter

As the resident CLB specialist at Ellii, I&rsquo;m working on creating a curated set of materials aligned with the most popular and common LINC modules. For this task, I&rsquo;ve been combing through the massive number of resources that Ellii has in order to identify the most relevant and practical skill-building, skill-using, and real-world resources for our LINC classrooms. &nbsp;

Watch for these special collections to come out this spring. I will be sending out a LINC-themed newsletter as well.&nbsp;

<h2>Helpful links</h2>

In the meantime, you can use the following links to help you find content developed with&nbsp;the Canadian classroom in mind:

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/linc">LINC Themes Collection</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/clb-competencies" target="_blank">CLB Competencies Collection</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/nations-regions/o-canada" target="_blank">Canada Collection</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/62-how-to-find-clb-content">How to Find &amp; Filter CLB Content</a></li>
</ul>

<h2>Office hours</h2>

Welcome to my &quot;office space.&quot;&nbsp;Feel free to reach out to me via email at jennifer@ellii.com. You can also use&nbsp;the space below if you have any ideas, suggestions, or comments. You can&nbsp;let me know what you&#39;d like me to include in a quarterly CLB newsletter or what you&#39;d like me to cover in&nbsp;a CLB webinar.&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

CLB Office Hours

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Over the last few years, Canadian LINC teachers have demonstrated tremendous resilience and adaptability in challenging situations. They have gracefully navigated shifting learning environments and&nbsp;pivoted when necessary without seeming to miss a beat.&nbsp;

In my conversations this past year with LINC teachers and administrators at in-person and virtual conferences,&nbsp;such as <a href="https://www.teslontario.org/content/tesl-toronto-t4t">TESL Toronto&nbsp;T4T</a>, <a href="https://www.tesllondon.ca/">TESL London</a>, <a href="https://bridge.edu/tefl/blog/summit/Summit-Schedule">BridgeUniverse Summit</a>, and <a href="https://cesba.com/">CESBA</a>, I&rsquo;ve been able to get a feel for what teachers consider their most pressing professional development needs.

<ol>
	<li>Communities of practice.&nbsp;The need to have frequent, ongoing professional networks and connections, whether they be online or in person, is prevalent among educators.</li>
	<li>Technology KSAs.&nbsp;Knowledge, skills, and abilities related to educational technology still top the list of teacher PD pursuits.</li>
	<li>Learner-engagement strategies. Teachers in blended learning environments have noted a kind of learner online fatigue setting in&nbsp;and are looking for ways to mitigate&nbsp;it.</li>
</ol>

<h1>Communities of practice&nbsp;</h1>

Connecting and collaborating have taken on deeper significance as of late, given what we know about <a href="https://oeb.global/oeb-insights/communities-of-practice-indispensable-support-for-todays-educators/">personal growth and mental health</a>. More and more teachers work remotely&nbsp;or in blended classrooms. Being part of an engaged community of practice means staying connected and on top of what&rsquo;s important and relevant in the field. It means teachers&nbsp;feel&nbsp;less isolated when they are part of an active in-person or virtual community of practice.

<blockquote>
Networking and collaboration are of huge importance. Little can be gained from repeating existing practices; we need to move forward, to progress. Doing the same things over and over and expecting different outcomes is simply not plausible.&nbsp;

&ndash;Dr. Sandra Kučina Softić, EDEN (European Distance and E-Learning Network) president
</blockquote>

<h2>Finding ways to get involved</h2>

Take advantage of&nbsp;social media. Find out about relevant learning opportunities and take part in them. For example, I stumbled across an excellent <a href="https://bridge.edu/tefl/blog/webinars/">BridgeUniverse webinar</a> recently on 21st-century skills and was able to connect with teachers and publishers globally. Sometimes these incidental meetings prove to be fruitful and serendipitous.

Don&rsquo;t leave it all up to chance, though. Make your connections intentional.&nbsp;Schedule time each morning, every evening, or whenever you have a few moments, and make it part of your routine. Take 20 minutes a day to browse social media, comment, contribute, and make note of the events that are relevant, interesting, and practical to your teaching.

Connect in person whenever you realistically can. Conversations, laughter, and the hey-I-didn&rsquo;t-know-you-were-going-to-be-here type of run-ins can&nbsp;lead to strengthening relationships in your community. TESL Ontario is having an in-person conference day this fall; the other two days will continue to be virtual. I am eagerly anticipating the in-person connections.

I recall the last TESL Ontario in-person&nbsp;conference, where I found myself&nbsp;sitting by a giant open fireplace and having excited t&ecirc;te-&agrave;-t&ecirc;tes with fellow teachers and administrators. We were deeply engrossed in stimulating conversations, which often included&nbsp;laughter. There was&nbsp;one heated and exciting debate over <a href="https://www.languagehumanities.org/what-is-the-input-hypothesis.htm">Stephen Krashen&#39;s input hypothesis</a>, and there was even an impromptu reflection on Canadian culture mishaps. This all started as a would-you-rather icebreaker&mdash;would you rather come face-to-face with an angry beaver&nbsp;or a mild-mannered moose? I mean, come on!&nbsp;Where else would we be able to ponder these quintessential Canadian dilemmas?

Communities of practice need to be tended, cultivated, and intentionally pursued. Online&nbsp;or in person, teachers need to find&nbsp;ways to refuel, reconnect, inspire, and be inspired. These connections can help improve a teacher&rsquo;s confidence and foster more positive mental health.

<h1>Technology KSAs&nbsp;</h1>

Given the pace of educational technology innovation, teachers and students alike can feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of options available. Who has the time to test out different quiz applications and&nbsp;alternative LMSs&nbsp;or find the perfect forum discussion board?&nbsp;

The recent buzz about AI in education has not gone unnoticed.&nbsp;AI-themed workshops have been offered at recent conferences since teachers now need to grapple with how to deal with this new phenomenon. While <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4468-ai-generated-content">AI-generated content</a> isn&#39;t about to replace teachers, it will have an impact.&nbsp;It&#39;s just too early to know the extent of that impact at this time.

<h2>Tip</h2>

Keep your students&#39; overarching learning objectives in focus. No matter what activity or task you choose, you&#39;ll need to ask yourself how&nbsp;this furthers the real-world learning goal? For example, if you are developing real-world reading skills (such as comprehending information on a university application website), consider using Microsoft&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-use-microsoft-immersive-reader-on-ellii">Immersive Reader</a>&nbsp;to encourage students to engage more deeply with&nbsp;the text, to notice the parts of speech, or even to activate prior knowledge through the L1 translation function.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Be intentional about your technology use. Keep it simple and routine&nbsp;as well as accessible and in line with your learning objectives. Choose one tool per function and use it often.&nbsp;

<h1>Learner-engagement strategies&nbsp;</h1>

&nbsp; 
Online learning offers opportunities for working students, students with young&nbsp;children, students with mobility difficulties, and students residing in remote communities. Reaching these marginalized students has never been more important.&nbsp;For teachers working within a blended learning or fully online environment, however, learner engagement continues to be a stress point.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;

What teachers have said to me is that they want to do more than just reach their students.&nbsp;They want to engage them, motivate them, and inspire them to take control of their learning and&nbsp;develop their own learning pathways.

<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tips-for-developing-students-digital-literacy">Digital literacy</a> continues to be a skill that students need to develop. As I learned at a recent CESBA workshop, many service-providing organizations now have a digital literacy plan in place where digital concerns can be addressed and basic skills built at the outset of students&#39; enrollment in language classes.&nbsp;

But it&rsquo;s a long way from having competent keyboard skills to being an engaged and active learner taking part in classroom activities, discussions, and collaborative efforts. Teachers have noted a kind of<a href="https://elearningindustry.com/is-zoom-fatigue-becoming-serious-threat-for-online-learners"> online learning fatigue</a> setting in, though this could also be applied to in-person evening courses that have students who are busy throughout the day, working and taking care of their families.&nbsp;

<h2>Ideas to help</h2>

Use resources and activities that are interesting, relevant, and useful to your specific group of students. Find stories and articles that reflect <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/that-s-news-to-me">current events</a> and pop culture&mdash;things that people are actually talking about.

<h1>Conclusion</h1>

As a teacher myself,&nbsp;I welcome the opportunity to develop a robust community of practice where we can discuss technology KSAs and learner-engagement strategies. Let&rsquo;s talk about what&rsquo;s working, what we can improve, and what we&rsquo;re excited about. Let&rsquo;s take a note from Emily Bryson and <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/sketchnoting-101-supercharged-professional-development-with-visual-notes">sketch it out!</a> &nbsp;Let&rsquo;s meet in person&nbsp;when we can&nbsp;and further strengthen our connections. Let&rsquo;s challenge each other to refine our teaching methods and stay up-to-date on&nbsp;technology in the language classroom. Let&#39;s look for ways&nbsp;we can help inspire and motivate our students to become the best version of themselves that they can be.

And occasionally, let&rsquo;s meet up for a strong cup of coffee, share a few laughs, and then finally make that critical decision&mdash;would you rather have a chance encounter with an angry beaver&nbsp;or a mild-mannered moose? (The answer, of course, has got to be angry beaver. What&rsquo;s the worst thing a beaver can do?)

Rising to the Challenge: Ideas for Canadian LINC Teachers

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Last week, I had the privilege of attending the TESOL 2023 Convention in Portland, Oregon. I&#39;ve been attending TESOL with Ellii (formerly ESL Library) since 2013, but this was my first one since the pandemic. Being able to attend an in-person event again, meeting subscribers and teachers from all over the world, and attending informative and inspiring sessions were all such a treat!

I went to&nbsp;all sorts of interesting sessions, but there were some on teaching pronunciation that really stood out to me. At Ellii, we&#39;ve been busy this year adding <a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/pronunciation">a series of videos</a> to our <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/pronunciation">Pronunciation lessons</a>, and it was important to us to confirm that our content still follows best practices for teaching pronunciation.

<h1>An argument for the IPA</h1>

In her session entitled &quot;An Argument for the IPA: Effective Strategies for Teaching Pronunciation,&quot;&nbsp;Heather Mehrtense from the University of Maryland explained how helpful using the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) has been in her classes. She began by listing some pros and cons for its use:

<h3>Pros of IPA use in class</h3>

<ul>
	<li>accurate (unlike English spelling)</li>
	<li>comprehensive</li>
	<li>(mostly) standardized</li>
	<li>systematic</li>
	<li>used by most pronunciation resources and textbooks</li>
</ul>

<h3>Cons of IPA use in class</h3>

<ul>
	<li>can be overwhelming</li>
	<li>not completely standardized (e.g., not all dictionaries use it since many dicationaries employ their own pronunciation systems)</li>
</ul>

Mehrtense developed a plan for teaching pronunciation with the IPA that she found worked well. She starts by introducing the IPA on Day 1 but only teaches a couple of sounds. On Day 2, she reviews consonant sounds, and then she covers vowel sounds on Day 3. Day 4 is for targeted practice based on her students&#39; needs, which involves tasks with minimal pairs. She monitors her students&#39; output and recycles and reviews as needed. Finally, on Day 5, students rehearse in class by performing a short dialogue that they&#39;ve written (which incorporates the target sounds).

<h3>Lessons learned</h3>

Here are Mehrtense&#39;s main takeaways for teaching with the IPA:

<ol>
	<li>Keep it as simple as possible.</li>
	<li>Focus on student needs.</li>
	<li>Accept non-standardization (comprehensibility is the goal, not accent reduction).</li>
	<li>Discuss variety (from&nbsp;different accents, etc.).</li>
</ol>

<h1>Phonetics in L2 pronunciation teaching</h1>

Later in the week, I attended another great session on pronunciation called &quot;Phonetics in L2 Pronunciation Teaching: Bridging Research and Practice.&quot; This session was led by a panel comprised of&nbsp;Tamara Jones from Howard Community College, Di Liu from Temple University, and Marnie Reed from Boston University. This session was presented as a series of questions and answers and contained valuable information for current pronunciation teaching practices.

<h3>Why is pronunciation important?</h3>

<ul>
	<li>Listening, speaking, and pronunciation have a close relationship.</li>
	<li>Comprehensibility is far more important than accent reduction.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Do I have to teach all vowels and consonants?</h3>

<ul>
	<li>Focusing pronunciation instruction&nbsp;on several target sounds based on students&#39; needs is better than teaching all the sounds in English.</li>
	<li>Functional load is important (i.e., sounds that affect the meaning of a word). For example, /p/ and /b/ have&nbsp;a functional load of 98 because they&nbsp;affect&nbsp;the meaning of many minimal pairs, such as &quot;park&quot; and &quot;bark.&quot; Conversely, /th/&nbsp;has a low functional load and isn&#39;t as important to teach as you may think.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Do I have to use the IPA?</h3>

<ul>
	<li>It&#39;s important to have a system in class, whether it&#39;s the IPA, the color vowel chart, or another system.</li>
	<li>Focus on learning the sounds more than the symbols.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Are sounds the only important thing to teach in a pronunciation class?</h3>

<ul>
	<li>Other features of pronunciation are just as important. Make sure you&#39;re teaching contracted forms, prosody/intonation, and meta-linguistic awareness (i.e., students often think the L1 speakers are talking too quickly, but they&#39;re actually just not catching the connections between words.)</li>
	<li>Intonation can carry a lot of meaning in a conversation. It&#39;s important to teach the functions of intonation.</li>
	<li>The goal should be to teach pronunciation within sentences, not just as individual sounds.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Ellii&#39;s takeaways</h1>

We at Ellii agree with&nbsp;Mehrtense, Jones, Liu, and Reed&mdash;you don&#39;t need to teach the complete IPA to students. It&#39;s enough that they have a symbol to represent the sound you&#39;re currently learning. The goal of most language classes wouldn&#39;t be for students to be able to transcribe full words into the IPA, but rather to be able to understand and recognize the sound they&#39;re currently learning and are expected to reproduce.

Ellii&#39;s pronunciation materials&nbsp;use <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3352-basic-ipa-phonetic-chart">IPA symbols</a> to represent sounds. As a company with global subscribers, it is important to use a system that&#39;s recognizable worldwide. However, we do have customers write in asking for a different system on occasion, which is why we take care to note other symbols or naming conventions (e.g., /&aelig;/ is also known as short A) within our lessons.

<a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/pronunciation">Ellii&#39;s Pronunciation lessons</a> also include minimal pair practice (both receptive and productive tasks) because being able to distinguish two like sounds is&nbsp;a great way to ensure students have mastered those sounds.

We&#39;re planning on&nbsp;developing more materials on the prosodic features of pronunciation, such as intonation and reductions. Thank you to all the teachers who requested these materials at our booth this year!

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7ZBufKMlhJg" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>

TESOL 2023 Takeaways on Teaching Pronunciation

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We&#39;re back! This year&#39;s TESOL team included (from left)&nbsp;Lei (Director of Accounts), Michelle (Accounts Manager),&nbsp;Tara (VP of Publishing, me), Tanya (Head of Video Production), Ann (Editor), Lise (Video Content Creator &amp; Producer),&nbsp;and Ben (CEO &amp;&nbsp;Founder of Ellii).

<img alt="Team TESOL 2023 in Ellii shirts" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3108/content_Team-TESOL-shirts-2023.jpg" />

In addition to the team above, we also had Ashley (Outreach Coordinator)&nbsp;working remotely with us all day, every day in &quot;Mission Control.&quot; From hotel and restaurant reservations&nbsp;to session rooms and booth maintenance, Ashley ensured that everything ran smoothly from beginning to end. (Ben describes Ellii&#39;s work ethic in this heartwarming,&nbsp;pre-conference post: <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/all-hands-on-deck-all-the-time">All Hands on Deck, All the Time</a>.)

If <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/takeaways-from-tesol-2022-7-points-to-unpack" target="_blank">last year&#39;s TESOL convention</a> was about sharing and caring about feelings&nbsp;in the midst of a&nbsp;pandemic (with a focus on the pros and cons of <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/academic-subjects/social-emotional-learning" target="_blank">SEL</a>), this year&nbsp;was more about putting out the feelers to see how&nbsp;the #ELT industry is responding in a time where education and technology seem to be changing at lightning speed.

Here are some of the questions we headed into TESOL with (and some buzzwords we heard this year):

1. What are English language teachers worrying about in 2023?

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2465-how-to-paraphrase" target="_blank">plagiarism</a></li>
	<li>equity</li>
	<li>community</li>
	<li>testing</li>
</ul>

2. What are some <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/6-english-language-teaching-trends-in-2023" target="_blank">important trends and targets in ELT</a>?

<ul>
	<li>ChatGPT</li>
	<li>digital &amp; media literacy</li>
	<li>critical thinking</li>
	<li>differentiation</li>
	<li>gamification</li>
	<li>translanguaging</li>
	<li>collaborative teaching</li>
	<li>virtual excursions</li>
</ul>

3. Where is the ELT industry&nbsp;heading next?

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4468-ai-generated-content">AI-generated content</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li>prompt engineering&nbsp;</li>
	<li>student-focused apps</li>
	<li>paid subscriptions&nbsp;(with reduced freemium features)</li>
</ul>

If you take a look at the #TESOL2023 chatter on <a href="https://twitter.com/ElliiLearning" target="_blank">Twitter</a>&nbsp;or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/esllibrary/">Instagram</a>,&nbsp;you&#39;ll notice one thing that is differed from last year. Everyone was thrilled&nbsp;to be face-to-face in community, sharing moments, ideas, and even food together. &nbsp;

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
It&#39;s all about the people. From teachers from my <a href="https://twitter.com/ELPrograms?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@elprograms</a> fellowship in Armenia and Ukraine to <a href="https://twitter.com/thinkaloud_pod?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@thinkaloud_pod</a> guests to grad school mates to old friends at ETS and many more, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TESOL2023?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TESOL2023</a> has reconnected me with so many beautiful and talented humans. My heart is full. 💙💜 <a href="https://t.co/FV4WUu4Pfm">pic.twitter.com/FV4WUu4Pfm</a>
&mdash; Anna Ciriani-Dean ESL (she/her) (@acd_esl) <a href="https://twitter.com/acd_esl/status/1639677032710942721?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2023</a></blockquote>

<h2>Session Topics</h2>

With so many sessions to pick from, Ellii&#39;s Publishing team&nbsp;typically heads to TESOL with a clear mission on which types of sessions we want to focus on. This year, we walked in with&nbsp;more of an open mind. Rather than choosing specific topics to research, our goal was to get a feel for&nbsp;what&#39;s important to English language teachers today&nbsp;and where the industry is heading.

While Lei, Michelle, and Lise&nbsp;held demos and chats with&nbsp;teachers at the Ellii booth and Ben focused on giving&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/where-to-find-ellii-at-tesol-2023">Ellii presentations</a>, Tanya, Ann, and I&nbsp;attended dozens of sessions and gained inspiration and insight on the following topics:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Plagiarism&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Differentiation</li>
	<li>Critical Thinking</li>
	<li>Storytelling</li>
	<li>Vocabulary Strategies</li>
	<li>Using Controversial Topics</li>
	<li>Academic Reading Strategies</li>
	<li>The New Academic Word List</li>
	<li>ChatGPT and AI Tutors</li>
	<li>Diversity</li>
	<li>Gamification</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tesol-2023-takeaways-on-teaching-pronunciation">Teaching Pronunciation</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tesol-2023-in-portland-top-takeaway">Correcting Listening &amp; Speaking Mistakes</a></li>
	<li>Assessment</li>
</ul>

<img alt="Supporting ELs in Content-Specific Classrooms" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3115/content_supporting-ELs-content-specific.png" />

TESOL 2023 Presentation by Sarah Levitt: Strategies for Supporting ELs in Content-Specific Classrooms

Watch for upcoming session highlights as well as content updates and additions born out of our research and reflection at TESOL 2023!&nbsp;

<h2>At the Ellii Booth</h2>

For many years, showing off ESL Library at TESOL was pretty simple. Teachers asked to see the PDF content, and we showed everything we had. Many loved our offerings and subscription-based service and signed up on the spot.

Last year in <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/takeaways-from-tesol-2022-7-points-to-unpack">Pittsburgh</a>&nbsp;(our first year as <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-our-new-name-ellii">Ellii</a>), we focused more on sharing our new features. Teachers (especially those still teaching fully online) were very excited about tools like our <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-use-microsoft-immersive-reader-on-ellii">Immersive Reader</a> integration and digital&nbsp;<a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/241-speaking">Speaking task</a>. However, it became clear to us in recent months that while our tools and digital features are&nbsp;nice to have (or even a must-have), most teachers are still&nbsp;more interested in the content itself.&nbsp;

<img alt="Video team at TESOL 2023" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3113/content_team-vid-ellii.JPG" /> 
 
From Ellii&#39;s booth backdrop to our brochures and demos, we let our content drive our conversations&nbsp;at TESOL this year. Though we were&nbsp;thrilled to show off our new <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-elliis-lesson-planner" target="_blank">Lesson Planner</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-grade-feed" target="_blank">Grade Feed</a>&nbsp;(released just in time for TESOL), we recognized that what English language teachers really want and need from Ellii is ready-made, high-quality, relevant content for every age, level, and need.&nbsp;

Guess what else teachers wanted&nbsp;at our TESOL booth this year?&nbsp;T-shirts! Chocolate! Coffee! Stickers! (And photos&nbsp;with the team!)&nbsp;

<img alt="I love Ellii T-shirts" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3112/content_i-love-ellii-t-shirts.JPG" />

<h2>The City of Portland&nbsp;</h2>

It had been nine years since Ellii (formerly ESL Library) had been to Portland. We had fond memories of Portland being colorful, liberal, and welcoming, and we were not disappointed.&nbsp; 
 
Here are some local businesses and products we enjoyed:

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://q-portland.com/" target="_blank">Q Restaurant &amp; Bar</a> (our top pick, highly recommended by AC Hotel)</li>
	<li>Luc Lac Vietnamese Kitchen (huge portions)</li>
	<li>Mother&#39;s Bistro &amp; Bar (great service)</li>
	<li>Portland Mama Mia Trattoria (good appys)</li>
	<li>Portland City Grill (amazing view from 30th floor)</li>
	<li>Urban Farmer (cozy brunch spot where&nbsp;basketball players were signing autographs)</li>
	<li>40 LBS (trendy coffee shop)</li>
	<li>Voodoo Doughnut (tourist trap we had to check out and enjoy)</li>
	<li><a href="https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B09XZ33FTW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&amp;psc=1" target="_blank">&quot;I&quot;-Lignment</a> (a self-help book written by our Uber driver&mdash;ordered)</li>
	<li>Punchbowl Social (where we bowled with some locals)</li>
	<li>Powell&#39;s City of Books (where I found some local <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/4-delicious-reasons-to-learn-english-with-poetry" target="_blank">poetry</a>)</li>
	<li>Majita Wine Co. (featured at the women-owned Woodlark Artisan&nbsp;Market)</li>
	<li>Portland Farmers Market (every Saturday, across from Portland State University)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Steel Bridge and waterfront (where we enjoyed&nbsp;the <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4064-cherry-blossom-festivals">cherry blossoms</a>)&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<img alt="Voodoo Doughnut Portland" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3110/content_Voodoo.jpg" />

Having shared these positive Portland experiences and eateries, it cannot go unsaid that Portland is different now than it was when we visisted for&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tesol-portland" target="_blank">TESOL 14</a>.&nbsp;There is a major homelessness problem in this city, and we understood&nbsp;the need to take a bit more care getting around than we enjoyed almost a decade ago.&nbsp;During our week in Portland, we had several interesting conversations with drivers and hospitality staff&nbsp;in order to stay both safe and informed. 
 
During one of our seven&nbsp;presentations, Ben shared our Discussion Starters lesson on <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2820-homelessness" target="_blank">Homelessness</a>, which we think is a relevant conversation to be having with language&nbsp;learners all around the world, including the Canadian cities many of us work from (Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, and Windsor, where I&#39;m blogging from today).&nbsp;

<img alt="Using Controversial Topics in the Classroom TESOL 2023" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3116/content_IMG_7227.jpg" />

US State Department TESOL 2023 session on using controversial topics in class.

<h2>Thank You, TESOL &amp; Team</h2>

As Ben mentioned in his opening remarks at TESOL, it is a great feeling to be able to give back to the ELT community by sponsoring this important event each year.

<img alt="Ben Buckwold, CEO of Ellii (TESOL 2023 diamond sponsor) giving opening remarks before keynote " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3117/content_IMG_7202.jpg" />

Ben Buckwold, CEO of Ellii, giving opening remarks before TESOL 2023 keynote on March 22. Ellii was a Diamond sponsor at TESOL this year.

Working remotely has its perks, but heading home after spending a week together laughing&nbsp;and making memories is always bittersweet. A big thank you to Ben for bringing us along for this year&#39;s TESOL adventure. We love Ellii!

<img alt="Ellii team in welcome sign when TESOL 2023 was over" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3109/content_welcome-TESOL-2023.jpg" />

Ellii&#39;s 2023 TESOL team finally got a chance to pose in the Welcome sign after we took down our booth and got ready to say our final goodbyes.

Hope to see some of you next year for TESOL 2024 in Tampa!

~ Tara

<h2>Related Posts</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/all-hands-on-deck-all-the-time" target="_blank">All Hands on Deck, All the Time</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tesol-2023-in-portland-top-takeaway" target="_blank">Takeaways from TESOL 2023: The Error-Friendly Classroom</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tesol-2023-takeaways-on-teaching-pronunciation" target="_blank">TESOL 2023 Takeaways on Pronunciation</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-an-elt-conference" target="_blank">How to Get the Most Out of an ELT Conference</a></li>
</ul>

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7ZBufKMlhJg" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>

TESOL 2023 in Portland: Feeling the #ELT Pulse

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Seven&nbsp;members of <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tesol-2023-in-portland" target="_blank">the Ellii team attended TESOL 2023</a> last week in Portland, Oregon, and I was lucky enough to be one of them. When I wasn&#39;t chatting at the booth with teachers and administrators from all around the world, I went to some amazing and inspiring sessions.

One session really stuck with me. It was titled &quot;The Error-Friendly Classroom: Learning from Listening and Speaking Mistakes.&quot; In this session, Beth Sheppard from the University of Oregon emphasized that learners have to notice their errors before they can correct them.

To this end, she outlined four classroom activities that can help capture listening and speaking mistakes, allowing for metacognitive reflection on current strengths, weaknesses, and next steps for learning.

During these activities, students are encouraged to analyze their work by asking themselves the following questions:

<ul>
	<li>Which part was easy?</li>
	<li>Which part had an interesting mistake?</li>
	<li>Which part had an important mistake?</li>
	<li>Why did I hear/say it that way?</li>
</ul>

They can answer these questions in a pair&nbsp;or group discussion, on an exit slip, in a brief presentation, or as a homework assignment.

Now for the activities...

<h2>Activity #1: Fast Dictation or Gap Filling</h2>

In this activity, students&nbsp;write down what they hear as you read a text aloud. If you choose to have them just fill in gaps of a given text, use more than&nbsp;one word per gap.&nbsp;(If you want, you can give students a line for each word.)

<ol>
	<li>Read the text at a natural pace&mdash;you can adjust the level via length and complexity.</li>
	<li>Repeat the input, but not so many times that the students will make&nbsp;no errors.</li>
	<li>Hand out the text or project it&nbsp;on the board and allow students to correct their work.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Ask students to reflect on their mistakes and report on the one(s) they would lke to work on most to you (the teacher), a partner, a small group, or the whole class.</li>
</ol>

<h2>Activity #2: Paused Transcription</h2>

In paused transcription, students listen to an extended text into which pauses have been inserted at irregular intervals. During each pause, students write down the last phrase they just heard.

<ol>
	<li>Choose target phrases (4&ndash;5 words) in a graded audio clip.</li>
	<li>Copy the audio file into an audio editor such as <a href="https://www.audacityteam.org/">Audacity</a>. Insert a beep and a 15-second pause&nbsp;after each target phrase.</li>
	<li>Play the audio once in class and have students write down the phrase they&nbsp;heard just before each beep.</li>
	<li>Give students a transcript of the original audio and have them correct their work.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Ask students to reflect on their mistakes and report on the one(s) they would lke to work on most to you (the teacher), a partner, a small group, or the whole class.</li>
</ol>

<h2>Activity #3: Elicited Imitation</h2>

In this activity, the learner is asked to repeat an utterance that is modeled by the teacher or a partner. Unlike typical listen-and-repeat tasks, learners do&nbsp;not see the utterance in written form nor do they repeat chorally.

Depending on the level, the language sampling can be one or two words, one or two phrases, or one or two sentences. Whatever the length or complexity, the delivery should be natural.

<ol>
	<li>The teacher or partner says the sampling.</li>
	<li>The learner repeats what they heard verbatim.</li>
	<li>Students correct each other&nbsp;or the teacher corrects the learner.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Students analyze whether their mistakes are in comprehension or production.</li>
</ol>

<h2>Activity #4: Recorded Speaking</h2>

Students can use their own devices to complete this activity. It works well as a&nbsp;homework task.

<ol>
	<li>Students record themselves giving a brief monologue in response to a prompt. (I suggest using the&nbsp;Personal&nbsp;Response task in&nbsp;the digital version of any of our <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/discussion-starters">Discussion Starter</a> lessons. These tasks include both&nbsp;a prompt and a recorder.)</li>
	<li>They then transcribe their speech word for word, using another colored pen or pencil to correct their mistakes.</li>
	<li>Students re-record the monologue and apply corrections.</li>
	<li>Alternatively, this activity can be done in class. In pairs or groups, students record a conversation among themselves. They collaborate to transcribe it&nbsp;and discuss any mistakes they notice.&nbsp;</li>
</ol>

Learner errors are a wonderful resource for both teachers and students, and&nbsp;it never hurts to repeat these mantras:

<blockquote>
&quot;Have a growth mindset.&quot;

&quot;Don&#39;t be afraid to be wrong.&quot;

&quot;Mistakes are an important part of learning.&quot;
</blockquote>

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7ZBufKMlhJg" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>

Takeaways from TESOL 2023: The Error-Friendly Classroom

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That&rsquo;s a picture of Tara Benwell, our VP of Publishing at Ellii. She&rsquo;s been working at Ellii for 16 years and is employee number 3. You would think after so many years working here and attending 11 TESOL conferences, she wouldn&rsquo;t have to be on booth setup duty anymore. But nope, that&rsquo;s her, working with Lei Kayanuma (Director of Accounts), spending an entire laborious day framing the stands, building the podium, unpacking boxes, tightening screws, and lifting super heavy stuff.&nbsp;

<img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3107/content_a0b9dfe5-8945-429c-8480-047c965bdb4d__1_.JPG" />

Tara in the Exhibition Hall, setting up for TESOL 2023 in Portland, Oregon.

We&rsquo;ve always been &quot;all hands on deck&quot; at Ellii, and we like it that way. Everyone at the company wears a ton of hats. Working this way has allowed us to just be us, and has enabled us to always stay closely connected to our product and our customers.

For two years, we tried to give everyone very specific tasks and keep everyone in their own lane. But that idea failed, and the fewer&nbsp;hats that people wore, the less connected we all seemed to be, so we&rsquo;ve gone back to a haberdashery of labor, and we love it.&nbsp;

<img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3104/content_d87c2610-9c09-4844-8afd-c0a39ba5a19f.JPG" />

Tara and Lei using a new set of skills today as they build the frames for the booth.

If you write an email to us and your question is about content, it&rsquo;s likely the people who respond will be from the Publishing team. The people who wrote the content are the same ones who answer customer support emails when it makes the most sense for them to answer. Why? Because they know the most about it and have the most to gain from hearing from any customer who has concerns, questions, or ideas about the materials.

Our customer service staff are also all hands on deck. They don&rsquo;t just answer emails or phone calls. They create help docs, produce video tutorials, and work directly in tandem with our engineers and design staff to communicate the conversations from customers who have written in about issues and requests.&nbsp;

<img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3105/content_f37c040a-32de-4440-91bf-583d5b00cb6a.JPG" />

Lei, Tara, and Tanya pose for a pic at the Ellii booth after putting the final touches on this year&#39;s display.

When you run an all-hands-on-deck company, everyone gets a lot closer to the product and even closer to the customer. The reason this booth looks so amazing is because it was designed by people on the Product team, the Publishing team, and the Accounts team. It was set up today by Tara Benwell (VP of Publishing), Lei Kayanuma (Director of Accounts), and Tanya Trusler (Head of Video Production). And doesn&#39;t it look fantastic, by the way?

<img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3106/content_c1113bf6-867a-41e0-b128-f8b5dc64771a.JPG" />

A special shout-out to Sarah at Ellii for designing this year&#39;s beautiful booth banner!

Embracing all hands on deck has allowed us to stay small, lean, agile, and innovative. Give it a try.

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7ZBufKMlhJg" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>

All Hands on Deck, All the Time

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<h2>Why we built a super simple grading tool we call Grade Feed</h2>

Spending time reflecting on your students&#39; work is such an important part of being a great teacher,&nbsp;don&#39;t you think? When you take the time to look at the assignments that your students have submitted&nbsp;and give them a grade, a comment, or some other type of feedback, two things happen. One, your students receive the attention they deserve and the insights they need to progress. And two, you&nbsp;as a teacher&nbsp;become more connected to the needs of your students.

When you are more familiar with how your students are doing and where attention is required, you become&nbsp;better at planning and teaching. You&#39;re able to pivot or adjust your roadmap in a more meaningful way when you&#39;ve taken the&nbsp;time to reflect on each submission from your students.

But grading can be time-consuming and feel tedious if you don&#39;t have the necessary tools to make the process smooth. As a teacher, grading should feel essential, but it shouldn&#39;t feel like a chore. So at Ellii, we&#39;ve built a tool we call Grade Feed with the intention of making the process of grading super simple, rewarding, and enjoyable.

<h2>How does Ellii&#39;s&nbsp;Grade Feed work?</h2>

We&#39;ve designed Grade Feed like an inbox&nbsp;where only the assignments that require your attention show up. Student responses appear all on one page&nbsp;with a slider tool to let you easily give a grade or a star rating instantly. There&#39;s a place to leave a short written comment&nbsp;and a tool to record an audio response when needed.

In a snap, you can review a submission, reflect on the response, and submit a grade with&nbsp;feedback. One by one, your Grade Feed stack gets smaller, your students hear from you, and&nbsp;you get a better sense of the needs of each learner. It&#39;s a win-win. In our Grade Feed demo video&nbsp;below, I will show you exactly&nbsp;how it works. For step-by-step instructions,&nbsp;visit our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/267-how-to-use-the-grade-feed" target="_blank">Help Doc</a>.

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="564" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/806835795" width="640"></iframe></div>

Introducing Ellii's New Grade Feed

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There are so many incredible English language teaching conferences around the world. It sometimes feels like it&rsquo;s always conference season.&nbsp;

Whether you&rsquo;re attending a large international conference in person (e.g., <a href="https://cms-tesol.ae-admin.com/tesol-convention-2023/schedule">TESOL</a> or <a href="https://www.iatefl.org/conference/home" target="_blank">IATEFL</a>)&nbsp;or joining a virtual&nbsp;conference online&nbsp;(e.g.,&nbsp;BBELT, Educast, or <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reflecting-on-elliicon2022" target="_blank">ElliiCon</a>), you&rsquo;ll need to be prepared in order to get the most out of the experience.&nbsp;

Here are some of our top tips.

<h2>1. Keep it simple!</h2>

Conferences can be overwhelming. There are often a lot of different sessions to choose from, and there&rsquo;s a risk of feeling like you&rsquo;re constantly rushing from one session to the next.&nbsp;

When I first attended IATEFL, I somehow managed to attend a session in every single time slot. That must have been about 10 sessions a day!

Needless to say, I was exhausted, and I probably didn&rsquo;t have time to process much of what I was learning.&nbsp;

In short, don&rsquo;t do what I did! Take it easy and enjoy the chance for some real&nbsp;professional development.&nbsp;

<h2>2. Choose your focus</h2>

When there is too much choice, it can help to pick a developmental goal or an area of interest and stick to that.&nbsp;

For example, when I was studying for my <a href="https://www.trinitycollege.com/qualifications/teaching-english/diptesol">DipTESOL</a>, I tried to attend as many sessions on <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/pronunciation">pronunciation</a> as I could. Then, when I was developing as an author and materials writer, my focus shifted to resource creation topics. Nowadays, I&rsquo;m naturally drawn to anything involving <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/graphic-facilitation-101" target="_blank">visual thinking</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/supporting-students-with-adhd" target="_blank">accessibility</a>, or teaching learners from <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/support-english-learners-from-refugee-backgrounds">refugee backgrounds</a>.&nbsp;

<h2>3. Have a (loose) schedule</h2>

So you&rsquo;ve chosen your areas of interest&nbsp;and you know it&rsquo;s unrealistic to attend everything. This is where having a plan&nbsp;and prioritizing sessions you are especially interested in helps.&nbsp;

If the conference has an app or a digital program, use the search function (or Ctrl + F) to look for keywords or speakers you want to see. Circle, highlight, or add any specific sessions you want to attend to your diary.&nbsp;You could color code&nbsp;or add some sort of mark to any that you really want to see.&nbsp;

<h2>4. Break times are brilliant</h2>

Make the most of your break times. It&rsquo;s important to give yourself time to relax and digest all the information.&nbsp;

If your conference is online, make sure to move around, refuel, and get away from the screen for a while.&nbsp;

If you&rsquo;ve traveled a long way to attend a conference, schedule time to go sightseeing, meet other attendees for a coffee, or have a wander round the exhibition space.&nbsp;

<h2>5. Network&nbsp;</h2>

What I missed out on most at my very first IATEFL was the networking. I was so determined to see as much as I could that I missed out on the real opportunities.

Some of my most life-changing experiences have been when I&rsquo;ve skipped sessions or met someone interesting at break time. I met all three of my publishers for the first time at IATEFL!&nbsp;

Try to strike up conversation with the person sitting beside you during a workshop or over lunch. Conference attendees are typically receptive to making new connections and connecting on social media.&nbsp;

Take photos of sessions you attend, post them on social media, and use any relevant hashtags. If you can, tag the speaker. Most people are delighted to have been mentioned on socials and will probably reshare your post.&nbsp;

<h2>6. Sketchnote</h2>

It can often be a challenge to stay focused during workshops or talks, especially as the day goes on. One of the best ways to pay attention, process the learning, and identify the key takeaways is to <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/sketchnoting-101-supercharged-professional-development-with-visual-notes" target="_blank">sketchnote</a>.&nbsp;

This is essentially adding simple drawings, arrows, borders, and diagrams to your notes. I find I&rsquo;m much more likely to review my notes, share them, and remember them whenever I sketchnote them.

Here&rsquo;s an example:&nbsp;

<img alt="Green Action in ELT and virtual meetings notes" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3085/content_elt-conference.jpg" />

I tend to find that whenever I sketchnote someone&rsquo;s webinar, talk, or workshop, they&rsquo;re always delighted. Even when I was just starting out. So feel the fear and post on socials anyway! You can tag me @EmilyBrysonELT and @ElliiLearning for an even greater reach.

Find out more about <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/sketchnoting-101-supercharged-professional-development-with-visual-notes">sketchnoting</a> by reading my previous blog post right here on Ellii.

<h2>7. Get social&nbsp;</h2>

As I&rsquo;ve mentioned, conferences aren&rsquo;t just about attending workshops. They are opportunities to meet new people, plant seeds for future projects, and have fun!&nbsp;

Both online and face-to-face conferences often have social programs. When <a href="https://innovateeltconference.com/the-event/" target="_blank">Innovate</a> was hybrid, it had a networking space, where people could log in simply for a chat. <a href="https://www.iatefl.org/conference/home">IATEFL</a> tends to have evening events such as a Quiz, Pecha Kucha, and Concerts. There can often be guided sightseeing within the schedule.&nbsp;

These are some of the best times to make connections. You could also arrange informal meet ups with people in ELT-themed social media groups.&nbsp;

<h2>8. Visit the exhibition hall</h2>

Conferences often have spaces for publishers, education providers, and other relevant organisations to share their products and services with you.&nbsp;

Take time to wander round, speak to the exhibitors, browse the books, and trial any software or learning tools.&nbsp;

If you like free stuff and discounts, this is the most likely place for it! Publishers may offer sample copies of their books for attending a workshop, while course providers may have discount codes for signing up during the conference.&nbsp;

<h2>9. Speak!</h2>

Presenting at a conference is an excellent way to develop professionally and share your expertise with the world. It&rsquo;s also invaluable to build your online persona.&nbsp;

I&rsquo;ve found that public speaking has created a snowball effect for me in terms of project offers. Many people have contacted me after conference sessions requesting that I speak at other events or collaborate with them in some way.&nbsp;

If you&rsquo;re still building your confidence with teacher education, start small by presenting at a local event&nbsp;or ask the conference to limit the attendance of your session. They could give you a smaller room or a later time slot, for example.&nbsp;

<h2>10. Enjoy the journey!</h2>

This one has two meanings. Firstly, enjoy the journey of the conference itself.&nbsp;Whether it&rsquo;s one day or a full week, you&rsquo;ll notice how you&rsquo;ve developed over the course of the event. Take time to reflect and have fun.&nbsp;

The second meaning is about enjoying the physical journey. As highlighted in the sketchnote above, conference travel, especially international, can have a significant effect on the environment.&nbsp;

If possible, find creative ways to reduce your carbon emissions. Consider ride-sharing, taking the train, or combining your trip with a vacation or another event. You could even cycle.&nbsp;

I&rsquo;m a big fan of cycling, and I&rsquo;m getting a bit of a reputation for cycling to conferences. So far, I&rsquo;ve cycled home to Glasgow from SATEFL (Perth, Scotland), from Glastonbury (yes, the festival) to NATECLA (Birmingham), and to IATEFL in Liverpool and Belfast.&nbsp;

Last year, my cycle not only cut emissions, but I also managed to raise &pound;2,000 for <a href="https://www.amalaeducation.org/" target="_blank">Amala</a>, a charitable organization that provides education for young adults living in refugee camps.

This year, I intend to cycle 250 miles over three days to IATEFL in Harrogate to raise money for the <a href="https://www.handsupproject.org/" target="_blank">Hands Up Project</a>.&nbsp;

You can find out more about my cycle on my own <a href="https://www.justgiving.com/page/emily-bryson-cycle-to-iatefl-harrogate-2023-for-hup?utm_term=jJ53wWV8k " target="_blank">blog</a>.

<blockquote>
What are your top tips for conferences? Feel free to share them in the comments. We&rsquo;d love to hear from you.&nbsp;&nbsp;
</blockquote>

How to Get the Most Out of an ELT Conference

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These posts are written for learners of English themselves. Find learning tips and ideas for learning English.

For Students

This post is in the For Students area of our blog. If you are a teacher, you can share it with your students for extra reading practice. The audio features an Irish accent.

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/3087/St-Patricks-Day-popular.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day may have originated in Ireland, but it is incredibly popular in the United States and Canada. Why? Because many North Americans are of Irish descent, which means that their ancestors came from Ireland.

<h2>What brought the first Irish people to North America?</h2>

Before the US gained independence, it was a collection of 13 British colonies. Many Irish people left their homeland because of religious conflict and poverty. Some of them came to the colonies as part of the British army, and some were indentured servants.

There were so many Irish people in the colonies by 1762 that New York City held its first St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day parade!

<h2>A second wave</h2>

In the early 19th century, the potato had become&nbsp;a staple of the Irish diet. However, in 1845, the potato crops in Ireland began to fail, leading to starvation. This period was known as the Irish Potato Famine,&nbsp;and it brought another wave of Irish immigrants to North America.

Because Ireland and Canada were both part of Britain at the time, tickets to Canada were less expensive than fares to the US. While&nbsp;many Irish chose to call Canada home,&nbsp;others&nbsp;found the financial resources to make their way to the US.&nbsp;The transatlantic journey was difficult. In the mid-1800s, it took 12 weeks&nbsp;to cross the ocean by boat.

<h2>What&#39;s it like now?</h2>

Nowadays in the US, approximately 26% of the population has&nbsp;Irish ancestors or relatives, and&nbsp;more than 13% of Canadians&nbsp;are of Irish heritage. It&rsquo;s no wonder St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day is so popular in these places!

<blockquote>
Writing challenge: Write a comment using the words &quot;ancestors&quot; and &quot;heritage&quot; to describe something interesting about your family or culture.
</blockquote>

<h2>Glossary</h2>

<ul>
	<li>ancestors: family members from the past</li>
	<li>indentured servants: people who had to work without a salary for seven years to pay for their travel to America</li>
	<li>famine: an extreme shortage of food that leads to widespread hunger</li>
	<li>heritage: the culture&nbsp;and traditions of a person&rsquo;s parents and grandparents</li>
</ul>

Why Do North Americans Love St. Patrick's Day?

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The countdown to TESOL 2023 is on, and we&rsquo;re excited to see you in person! Here at Ellii, we&#39;re passionate about providing teachers with ready-made content and courseware&mdash;including high-quality lessons, videos, and flashcards&mdash;on a platform that students and teachers love.

For more than 20 years, we&#39;ve been committed to making teachers&#39; lives easier so they can teach their best class, every class. That&rsquo;s why we&rsquo;re thrilled to be a Diamond Sponsor at TESOL this year, supporting professional development for educators around the world!

<h2>Where to find us</h2>

We&#39;ll be at&nbsp;Booth 219&nbsp;in the Expo Hall.&nbsp;

Attend our in-person sessions:

<ul>
	<li>Wednesday, 10⁠⁠:⁠⁠00&ndash;10⁠:45 am PDT &ndash; OCC, E147/148 
	<a href="https://events.rdmobile.com/Sessions/Details/1701550" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Trending Content to Spark Meaningful Conversations</a></li>
	<li>Wednesday, 11⁠⁠:⁠⁠30&ndash;12⁠⁠:⁠⁠15 pm PDT &ndash; OCC, Portland Ballroom 251 
	<a href="https://events.rdmobile.com/Sessions/Details/1628768" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Ellii Tips and Tricks for Power Users</a></li>
	<li>Wednesday, 1⁠⁠:⁠⁠00&ndash;1⁠⁠:⁠⁠45 pm PDT &ndash; OCC, Portland Ballroom 251 
	<a href="https://events.rdmobile.com/Sessions/Details/1701555" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Teach Smarter with Ellii</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Wednesday, 3⁠⁠:⁠⁠00&ndash;3⁠⁠:⁠⁠30 pm PDT &ndash; Hyatt, Deschutes Ballroom A 
	<a href="https://events.rdmobile.com/Sessions/Details/1686238" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Coffee Chat with Ellii</a></li>
	<li>Thursday, 12⁠⁠:⁠⁠00&ndash;12⁠⁠:⁠⁠45 pm PDT &ndash; OCC, Portland Ballroom 251 
	<a href="https://events.rdmobile.com/Sessions/Details/1628767" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">The Power of Images and Video in Language Classrooms</a></li>
	<li>Thursday, 3⁠⁠:⁠⁠00&ndash;3⁠⁠:⁠⁠45 pm PDT &ndash; OCC, Portland Ballroom 251 
	<a href="https://events.rdmobile.com/Sessions/Details/1628766" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Teach Smarter with Ellii&nbsp;</a></li>
	<li>Friday, 12⁠⁠:⁠⁠00&ndash;12⁠⁠:⁠⁠45 pm PDT &ndash; OCC, Portland Ballroom 251 
	<a href="https://events.rdmobile.com/Sessions/Details/1628769" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Trending Content to Spark Meaningful Conversations</a></li>
</ul>

<h2><img alt="Ellii swag, raffle tickets and an apple watch " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3099/content_Ellii_TESOL-2023_swag.jpg" /></h2>

<h2>Chocolate bars, T-shirts, and more!</h2>

Ellii will be handing out delicious chocolate bars due to popular demand! Meet Lei and Michelle at Booth 219 to check out our other fun Ellii swag. Be sure to enter our raffle to win an Apple Watch too!

<h2>Have questions?</h2>

Feel free to reach out to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:hello@ellii.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">hello@ellii.com</a>. Our team will be happy to help you.

We look forward to seeing you in Portland for TESOL 2023!

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

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