Elt Well

Not to be missed😃

Dyslexia Show 2024, 15-16 March at the Birmingham NEC, is just a couple of weeks away!

Dekko Comics will be exhibiting at Stand C202* and Rossie will be speaking in the Keynote Theatre, Friday 15 March, 12:00. He is also scheduled to appear on the Inspiring Dyslexia panel, Keynote Theatre, Friday 15 March, 15:45. We'd love to see you there.

For full event details, follow Dyslexia Show or visit: https://dyslexia.show

*updated from previous post.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Thursday 20 July 2023
Dyslexia Learning Festival - Inspiring Positive Change: Showcasing Good Practice

Great news: the webpage and booking link this festival of learning is now live:
https://www.dyslexialearningfestival.org/festivals/inspiring-positive-change-showcasing-good-practice/

The festival is free and is available to watch on demand in case people are unable to join live on the day. My contribution ("Wasted Potential: Homelessness") is in session 2, at 10.30.

Teaching Languages to Students with Specific Learning Differences

The second edition of our popular book is coming out in October.
It's been fully revised to reflect changes in the world over the last 12 years, in terms of teachers’ experiences, the latest research, and even the language we use to discuss issues of diversity and difference.

You can pre-order from Multilingual Matters now:
https://www.multilingual-matters.com/page/detail/?K=9781800418608
and get a 50% discount using code KOSM50

Always worth having a look at the Dekko stall 😀

A wee reminder that nasen LIVE 2023! in Birmingham is just over one week away, Friday July 7 at the VOX Conference Centre.

Dekko Comics will be at Stand 36 with our full range of products along with information about how Dekko Video Courses for Schools https://dekkocomics.com/video-courses aim to make classroom learning more accessible and engaging.

We'd love to see you there!

nasen LIVE event details can be found here: https://nasen.org.uk/nasenlive-2023

Really happy to be sponsoring this event.

The links between misunderstood / unidentified neurodiversity and mental health issues are well-documented. We need to talk about both more - and here is our opportunity!😀

There's still time to book on for this one-day event in Harrogate on April 17th. (See the link below.)

We really can't wait for our joint PCE with the Iatefl Leadership and Management SIG at Iatefl in Harrogate!! We're so lucky to have such top-class speakers giving talks and workshops on the topic of Mental Health in ELT. Join us and Alex Fayle, Emily Bryson ELT , George Pickering, Magali Moser, Naila Akram, and others for an enlightening day of talks in a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Register now at https://www.iatefl.org/events/419

Save the date! On February the 7th at 7pm C.E.T we will be joined by former SIG Coordinator, and editor of the amazing book "Activities for Inclusive Language Teaching", Anne Margaret Smith to talk about some of the activities in the book. Anne will also be joined by some of her co-authors, who will be sharing their favourite activities from the book. There's also a prize draw where three lucky attendees can win a copy of the book! Find out more and register at https://www.iatefl.org/events/424

Snow on the hills around Morecambe Bay.
And - finally - a new home for ELT well.
It's been a good day 🙂

‘UNDERSTANDING NEURODIVERSITY’, STARTING SEPTEMBER 26th

Still a few places available for this popular 10-week online course.
If you want to understand how dyslexia, dyspraxia and other specific learning differences affect people of all ages, both in the classroom and in their daily lives, this is the course for you.

This will change the way you view your students (and your friends, your family, yourself...)

Every participant gets a fabulous set of materials to help raise awareness of SpLDs (pictured here), and a chance to work alongside other professionals, but at their own pace.

Find out more here: https://learnforpleasure.com/subjects/understanding-neurodiversity/

Looking forward to meeting all you Eltabbers virtually on Saturday😄

📢 Only 3 days left until ELTABB's workshop "Dealing with Differences: The Neurodiverse Language Classroom" with Anne Margaret Smith

The workshop will explore neurodiversity and how it can affect language learning as well as some inclusive practices and activities for the classroom.

Please register on the Ning.

See you on Saturday at 10am 😊

So great to see familiar faces arriving for the conference - in full technicolour real life again for the first time since 2019.

I'm only here for the Iatefl IP&SEN SIG Preconference Event on Monday, with , but I'm already catching up with much-missed friends (not the sheep - never met them before). Looking forward to feeling that familiar IATEFL vibe 😚

ALL BEHAVIOUR IS COMMUNICATION.
When your neurodivergent, pre-teen student starts using your Cuisenaire rods to build, and won’t engage with your lovely word order activities, you have to listen to their message.

In this case, I decided the best thing was to let him do what he enjoys and sneak a bit of language work past him. The instructions he had to give me, to build a tower exactly like his, were pretty complex (“Put two light greens on top, in the same direction as the first two purples. Leave a gap.”)

He also taught me today how to complete a Rubik’s cube.
And that literally everything else was booor-ing 🙄

What have you learnt from your students this week?

THE WEEK AHEAD
Just getting ready for a new student arriving on Monday. He's a bit younger than my usual students, so I'm getting ALL the fun things together.
Of course, the same multisensory principles apply, but I'm looking forward to getting to know this young man, and helping him to enjoy learning English.

DYSLEXIA AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING
This fabulous course is back for an 8th time, thanks to Judit Kormos and Lancaster University
Start date: April 25th, for 4 weeks
Free (unless you want a certificate)
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/dyslexia/8/register?return=87mqokou

Over the last 8 years, 84,000 people have signed up for this course. Some participants have taken it more than once, as there is so much in it, and we have updated it several times.

If you have not yet 'done the MOOC', there is still time to join us.
Hope to see you there!

Page from Dyslexia and Foreign Language Teaching - Lancaster University Learn more about dyslexia, and gain practical teaching tools and insights to help dyslexic students learn foreign languages.

HOMELESS, ILLITERATE, CAN’T SPEAK ENGLISH.
Some people’s lives are more complicated than others’.

There does seem to be a correlation between insecure housing, (unidentified) Specific Learning Differences and low levels of English proficiency.

Which is the cause and which the effect? Chicken and egg? Sadly, for many they seem to be caught in a negative downward spiral that is hard to turn around.

Fortunately, LITERACY100 are aware of the particular challenges of insecurely housed / homeless people with low levels of literacy who are also using English as an additional language.

I’m delighted to be working with their tutors and talking to them about “Supporting ESOL Learners with Literacy Development” on Wednesday 13th April.

You can find out more about Literacy100 here: https://www.literacy100.org/
And book your free ticket for the webinar here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/literacy100-seminar-supporting-esol-learners-with-literacy-development-tickets-293308903827

Literacy100 Seminar: Supporting ESOL Learners with Literacy Development "Supporting English Language Learners with Literacy Development" with Dr. Anne Margaret Smith

NOT JUST A CARAVAN – THIS IS AN ACTUAL WINNEBAGO!
34 schools in the Swansea area now have their own CAMLs (Cognitive Assessments for Multilingual Learners), as well as the central education staff: educational psychologists, EAL advisors, and speech and language teachers. Hats off to Pam Cole, the Senior Lead for Minority Ethnic Learners and Equalities in Swansea, who has arranged this.

The CAML is an assessment tool that teachers or other educational professionals can use with their multilingual students to determine where the barriers to learning are. Sometimes developmental learning differences like dyslexia are not picked up when English is an additional language, but the CAML takes English out of the equation, so we can see whether the barriers are cognitive or linguistic.

I’ve spent the last couple of days packing up and sending out CAMLs to the schools in Swansea (huge thanks to Susan at Westgate Post Office who very calmly and efficiently processed the whole ‘Winnebago’ yesterday!). I’ve set up access to the online resources for the staff, and now I’m looking forward to meeting them all for a full day of professional development, to discuss how to make the most of their CAMLs.

This means that anybody in the Swansea area who uses English as an additional language should soon be able to have any underlying specific learning differences identified and addressed. No longer will they be discouraged by being told ‘Wait till you’ve learnt more English – then we’ll assess you!’

THIS is what we mean by parity of opportunity.

If you would like your school / academy cluster / local authority to be able to offer a truly equitable education to your multilingual learners, get in touch. You can find more information about the CAML on the ELT well website: http://eltwell.com/dyslexia-assessment/spld-assessments-for-multilingual-people/

DYSLEXIA SHOW
A huge THANK YOU to Arran Smith and all the team who put on a wonderful - the first of many, we hope. Thanks, too, to the lads from Dekko Comics and the Trugs Games team who helped me set up and then pack up my stall.

I had a lovely time talking to parents, teachers and assessors about how we can best support our neurodivergent learners. It was great to catch up with old friends, too.

The picture here shows Lucy Smith (Arran's lovely wife) drawing the winning ticket from the ELT well competition. The lucky winner has been notified separately.

I'm hoping there will be other live events this year, so if you would like to catch up with ELT well and see what's new, *like* this page to keep up to date with where I'll be! 😄

FANCY A FREEBIE?
One of the best things about an exhibition like The Dyslexia Show is the chance to get some great bargains, and yes – let’s admit it – we all like a lovely freebie.

On the ELT well stall (31) you’ll find all our materials discounted by at least 10% (and you can take an order form with you, to place your order later).

We are giving away our post-it notes (come on – don’t pretend you’re not interested now!) and also some fabulous Inkling Island comics, commissioned from Dekko Comics

Best of all, it’s competition time at ELT well. Test your language skills on our competition for a chance to win a FREE place on an online course of your choice.

See you on Friday / Saturday at the NEC, Birmingham.

SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE!
Really happy to announce that my old friend, and co-author of the *LLAMA, Matthew Evens (of Matthew Evens Music), will be joining me on Saturday at the , with a djembe or two.

Music is such a flexible and valuable tool for developing good language and literacy skills. Research suggests that working on rhythm, in particular, helps dyslexic learners with their phonological processing, with positive knock-on effects for literacy.

So if you are interested in finding out more about how you could incorporate musical activities into your curriculum, Mat is definitely the man to talk to.
Find us on stall 31 (you might hear us before you see us 😉)

*Language Learning and Musical Activities

WHAT CAN YOU FIT INTO A 2x2m STALL?

Well, on the ELT well stall at the (stall 31) we are really packing it in.

Apart from admiring the CAMLs and LLAMAs, you can:
> check your working memory capacity
> feel what it's like to be dyspraxic
> explore multisensory activities for teaching grammar and phonology
> get great discounts on all ELT well materials
> take part in a competition to win a FREE PLACE on an ONLINE COURSE
> PLUS special guest (- more later on that 😉)

Don't miss the fun!

A CARAVAN OF CAMLS AND A LOVELY LOAD OF LLAMAS

I've just spent a happy morning herding my *CAMLs and *LLAMAs, getting them ready to come to next week at the NEC (March 25-26).

If you would like to meet the Cognitive Assessments for Multilingual Learners kit, or the Language Learning and Musical Activities materials, come along to Stand 31 and I can introduce you.
They are very user-friendly, and you are welcome to handle them, but please do not feed them 😊

You can find out more at www.ELTwell.com before you come!

*No Camelidae were harmed in the writing of this post.

THE DYSLEXIA SHOW AT THE NEC: MARCH 25-26
Here at ELT well we are really excited to be going to a live exhibition, to chat about dyslexia / neurodiversity and language learning, and how ELT well can help teachers support their learners.

We’ll be on Stand 31, just round the corner from our friends at Dekko Comics. Come and see us there – have a look at our assessment and teaching materials, and find out more about the professional development opportunities we offer.

As usual, there'll be great discounts and a competition with a FABULOUS prize 😁

IDENTIFYING AND SUPPORTING MULTILINGUAL LEARNERS WITH SpLDs

Looking forward to joining the SATEFL team to talk about my favourite subject on Saturday morning 😄

(We'll be on zoom, so pyjamas absolutely acceptable.)

BACK IN THE ROOM

Thanks to Heather McClean and the EAP team at University for the Creative Arts - UCA in Farnham, for inviting me to work with them today. We talked through how to screen their international students for SpLDs using the CAML+ (Cognitive Assessments for Multilingual Learners PLUS).

It was a lovely gentle re-introduction to in-person training for me. Hoping it has sparked some new ideas about how to support their EAP learners, and how to raise awareness across the university 😃