A calm brain meditating

#ElliiCon2022

Simplicity in ELT

Sep 15–16, 2022
Sep
15
,
2022
Sep
16
,
2022
9:30 am–4:45 pm (CDT)

Thanks for joining Ellii and leading English language experts for a free, two-day virtual conference to explore simple, effective, and practical strategies that will help you build stronger relationships with your students and engage them in a more meaningful way. We explored how to get back to the basics and reconnect with your purpose for teaching so you can focus on what you do best—connecting with your students and helping them achieve their language learning goals.

Free!

Meet the Speakers

These speakers presented at ElliiCon2022:

Keishia Thorpe

2021 Global Teacher Prizewinner & Cofounder of US Elite International

Keishia Thorpe is an English teacher, licensed principal, and the winner of the 2021 Varkey Foundation Global Teacher prize. She’s also the cofounder of US Elite International, a non-profit that helps at-risk student athletes across the globe access fully funded scholarships to US colleges and universities.

Learn more about Keishia on our blog!

Details to come

Nicholas Peachey

Founder & Director of Pedagogy, PeacheyPublications Ltd

Nik Peachey is a two-time British Council ELTons award winner for innovation in English language teaching. He’s also the founder and director of pedagogy at PeacheyPublications, a publishing company that designs digital learning materials for English language classrooms.

Learn more about Nik on our blog!

Details to come

Dr. Ken Beatty

TESOL Professor, Anaheim University

Dr. Ken Beatty is the author and co-author of more than 140 textbooks and has lectured all over the world on language teaching at the primary through university levels. He’s currently a TESOL Professor at Anaheim University.

Learn more about Dr. Beatty on our blog!

Details to come

Dr. Katie Welch

Educational Consultant, Welch Education

For two decades, Dr. Katie Welch has taught and trained teachers at the K–12, adult, and higher education levels. She currently provides professional development to language educators through partnerships with institutions like the US Department of State and Cambridge University Press.

Learn more about Dr. Welch on our blog!

Details to come

Shelly Terrell

English Teacher & EdTech Consultant, Lighthouse Public Schools

Shelly Sanchez Terrell is a Bammy Award winner, National Association of Professional Women’s Woman of the Year, digital innovator, international speaker, and author of Hacking Digital Learning Strategies. She’s trained teachers in more than 20 countries and is currently a teacher in Texas.

Learn more about Shelly on our blog!

Details to come

Emily Bryson

ELT Specialist & Author, Self-employed

In addition to being one of Ellii’s bloggers, Emily Bryson is an ESOL lecturer, ELT author, teacher educator, and graphic facilitator. She’s written materials for renowned ELT publishers such as National Geographic Learning and Macmillan Education.

Learn more about Emily on our blog!

Details to come

Ben Buckwold

Founder & CEO, Ellii

After teaching in Tokyo, Japan, for five years, Ben launched Ellii (formerly known as ESL Library) in 2002 as a subscription-based resource site to help language instructors teach a better class, every class. Ellii is now one of the leading content platforms for English language teaching with subscribers in more than 10,000 schools worldwide, including K–12 schools, private language schools, post-secondary institutions, and online tutoring platforms.

Eduardo Prauze

Chief Technology Officer, Ellii

As Ellii’s Chief Technology Officer, Eduardo Prauze leads the engineering team in conceptualizing and building tools that empower teachers. Being an ESL student himself, he is incredibly passionate about how technology can improve the way we teach and learn.

Tara Benwell

VP of Publishing, Ellii

As a former ESL teacher and now VP of Publishing at Ellii, Tara Benwell leads the Publishing team in creating relevant, high-quality content for English teachers. In the last 16 years, she’s written and revised hundreds of materials for a variety of sections, including her two favorites: Discussion Starters and Phonics Stories.

Ann Dickson

Editor, Ellii

Ann is an Adult Ed English language teacher and Ellii’s editor. She has worked extensively in both the teaching and publishing fields. Ann works closely with Ellii's writers, editing their print and digital materials. She also adapts content for Ellii’s digital platform and writes lessons and blog posts.

Tanya Trusler

Head of Video Production, Ellii

Tanya oversees the Video team at Ellii, writes and edits scripts, produces content and marketing videos, and manages Ellii's two YouTube channels. Tanya has an extensive background in English language teaching, having taught learners of all ages and levels in Canada and New Zealand. Her favorite topics to create content for and teach are grammar and pronunciation.

Jen Artan

CLB Content Writer & Presenter, Ellii

As Ellii’s Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) content writer and presenter, Jen Artan creates and curates content for teachers, focusing on crafting materials for CLB teachers. She also represents Ellii at language teaching conferences like TESL Ontario, BC TEAL, ATESL, TESL Manitoba, and more.

Lise Papineau

Video Content Producer, Ellii

As Ellii's Video Content Producer, Lise works to engage our teachers and build community, primarily through video content on Ellii’s social media channels. Lise also collaborates with the Publishing team and Group Accounts team to support teacher and student education efforts. Previously, Lise lived in Brazil and worked as an independent ESL teacher and editor for more than six years.

Karina Zew

Teacher Trainer & ESL Instructor, Bridge

Karina Zew works as a tutor for Bridge’s online TEFL/TESOL courses and an ESL instructor for BridgeEnglish in Latin America. With over 30 years in the education sector, Karina has taught Business English classes at international companies and general English to young learners.

Learn more about Karina on our blog!


Program

This was our program for ElliiCon2022. Watch the recordings on YouTube.

Join us for live sessions and networking opportunities.

Coffee cup in speech bubblea question mark
Thursday, September 15, 2022
/
9:45 am
10:30 am
CDT
CST

Coffee Talk: S is for Simplicity

We’re kicking off ElliiCon2022 with an informal chat about keeping things simple in the language learning classroom. Join writers and editors from Ellii’s publishing team as they take you behind the scenes and highlight some of the tools and techniques they use to make teachers’ lives easier. Bring a beverage along with your favorite simplicity hack to share with our global teaching community.

Details TBA

Tanya Trusler
Tara Benwell
Ann Dickson
Jen Artan
A brain smiling and wavinga question mark
Thursday, September 15, 2022
/
10:30 am
10:45 am
CDT
CST

Welcome Session: Why We Do What We Do

Join Ellii (formerly ESL Library) founder and CEO Ben Buckwold in reflecting upon the importance of what English language educators do every day. This session offers a glimpse into how Ellii creates content and courseware specifically designed to facilitate opportunities for engagement and meaningful discussion in every class.

Details TBA

Ben Buckwold
A globea question mark
Thursday, September 15, 2022
/
11:00 am
12:00 pm
CDT
CST

Developing Global Citizens through Culturally Responsive Practices

When students come to class, they bring their cultures, languages, belief systems, religions, values, social behaviors, and more along with them. This multiculturalism should be appreciated in the classroom, reflected in the curriculum, and seen as a benefit to the teaching and learning process. But in order to build a curriculum that respects and reflects our students’ multicultural perspectives, we first need to understand who they are by building relationships with them. With this foundation of understanding, our language learners can begin to recognize their own values and start developing global competence.

In this session, 2021 Varkey Foundation Global Teacher prizewinner Keishia Thorpe shares how you can engage your students and make learning relevant to the real world. Discover how to integrate culturally responsive practices that promote equity and inclusivity in the classroom and how you can support students in becoming global citizens.

Details TBA

Keishia Thorpe
Speech bubblesa question mark
Thursday, September 15, 2022
/
12:15 pm
1:15 pm
CDT
CST

Developing Understanding through Intentional Listening

In our increasingly polarized world, competition and confrontation have seemingly taken priority over collaboration and understanding. In this presentation, Nik Peachey shares a range of techniques you can use to help your students develop the skills they need to navigate our progressively complex society.

Discover activities that will help your students…
• empathize with others
• listen with the intention to better understand on a more emotional level
• build dialogue and find common ground with those that hold different worldviews than their own

Details TBA

Nicholas Peachey
Lightbulb with a fork a question mark
Thursday, September 15, 2022
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1:30 pm
2:15 pm
CDT
CST

Lunch & Learn: Teaching English with Ellii

New to the Ellii platform? Join Jen Artan, Ellii’s CLB content writer and presenter, for a quick overview on how to use the platform and navigate its features. Learn how to organize materials, teach in-person or online classes, assign digital tasks as classwork or homework, and see student progress in real time.

Details TBA

Jen Artan
Clipboard with marker and check mark a question mark
Thursday, September 15, 2022
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2:30 pm
3:30 pm
CDT
CST

Assessment: Agile, Simple, Effective

Assessment is critical for monitoring student progress, identifying areas that need improvement, and determining whether our lessons align with our students’ needs and the course objectives.

In this session, Dr. Ken Beatty provides quick-win strategies for how you can make assessments simpler for yourself and your primary, teenage, and adult language learners. Discover how to make your assessments…
• more agile by adapting them to students’ needs
• simpler to create, administer, and mark
• more effective by turning them into a learning opportunity

Details TBA

Dr. Ken Beatty
A brain wearing a graduation hata question mark
Thursday, September 15, 2022
/
3:45 pm
4:30 pm
CDT
CST

Fostering 21st-Century Skills for Academic & Business Success

Developing 21st-century skills such as communication, collaboration, leadership, innovation, and digital literacy is increasingly vital for people of all ages around the globe. In this presentation, Karina Zew shares how you can teach these skills in the classroom and help prepare your students for success in academics, business, and more. Learn useful tips and techniques that you can implement to help your English language learners of all ages cultivate necessary real-world skills.

Details TBA

Karina Zew
Speech Bubbles smilinga question mark
Thursday, September 15, 2022
/
4:30 pm
5:15 pm
CDT
CST

Socialize & Connect

Connect with educators worldwide by joining a themed discussion table or participating in one-on-one speed networking. This session is an excellent opportunity to learn from other teachers and to share your own classroom experiences. The Ellii team will have tables available to answer any questions you have.

Details TBA

No items found.
Movie clapboarda question mark
Thursday, September 15, 2022
/
5:15 pm
5:30 pm
CDT
CST

Wrap-Up

Join us in reflecting on everything we’ve learned during today's sessions. Let's discuss how we can support making English educators’ lives easier.

Details TBA

Ben Buckwold
Coffee cup with speech bubblea question mark
Friday, September 16, 2022
/
9:45 am
10:30 am
CDT
CST

Coffee Talk: Create & Innovate

We’re kicking off Day 2 of ElliiCon2022 with an informal chat about creativity! What do you do to inspire creativity in your students? How do you incorporate it into your own life? Join members of Ellii's Publishing team and fellow teachers as we explore ways to be more creative in the classroom and beyond.

Details TBA

Tanya Trusler
Tara Benwell
Ann Dickson
Jen Artan
Confettia question mark
Friday, September 16, 2022
/
10:30 am
10:45 am
CDT
CST

Welcome Session: Simplifying English Language Education

Join Ellii (formerly ESL Library) founder and CEO Ben Buckwold and Chief Technology Officer Eduardo Prauze for a discussion on how Ellii works to simplify teachers’ lives in the classroom. Learn about the new tools we’re creating to save you time, make teaching easier, and help you maintain a healthier work-life balance.

Details TBA

Ben Buckwold
Eduardo Prauze
Pencil and Picture of sun and hillsa question mark
Friday, September 16, 2022
/
11:00 am
12:00 pm
CDT
CST

Graphic Facilitation for ELT: Using Simple Drawings to Engage Learners

Drawings are a visual vocabulary and a powerful means of communication. Learning to draw simple icons can support your language learners’ understanding, vocabulary recall, creativity, critical thinking, and note-taking skills. It can also rejuvenate teaching mojos, focus reflective practice, equip teachers with a bank of zero-prep activities, and add a touch of magic to classes.

In this session, Emily Bryson shares how you can engage learners with simple facilitation techniques such as visual templates and capture sheets, graphic organizers, and sketchnoting.

Details TBA

Emily Bryson
Heart hugging itself a question mark
Friday, September 16, 2022
/
12:15 pm
1:15 pm
CDT
CST

Self-Care 101: Addressing Teachers' Social-Emotional Needs

From zoom fatigue and compassion fatigue to never-ending paperwork and political pressure, teaching these days can be downright exhausting! In this session, Dr. Katie Welch unpacks how sustainable self-care must go beyond bubble baths and massages and instead address the underlying issues that make teaching so challenging.

Gain practical, concrete solutions for how you can prioritize your own social and emotional well-being so that you can bring your best self to the classroom each week.

Details TBA

Dr. Katie Welch
Lightbulb with fork a question mark
Friday, September 16, 2022
/
1:30 pm
2:15 pm
CDT
CST

Lunch & Learn: Creating & Using Flashcards in the Language Classroom

Flashcards are a useful tool for teaching all language learners—from preschool to business school! Join Jen Artan, Ellii’s CLB content writer and presenter, for ideas on how you can use Ellii’s printable and digital flashcards for assessment, classroom discussion, and vocabulary building.

Details TBA

Jen Artan
Gearsa question mark
Friday, September 16, 2022
/
2:30 pm
3:30 pm
CDT
CST

Let's Talk! Tools & Strategies to Get Students Speaking

Language is social, which means our classes should be full of speaking students. In this session, Shelly Sanchez Terrell shares strategies, activities, tips, and tools that will inspire even the shyest of English learners to find their voice. Attendees will learn how to motivate young learners and adults to share stories, practice vocabulary, voice their opinions, and reflect on the content. Participants will also explore examples of scaffolds and supports to enhance speaking skills and walk away with practical ideas to implement immediately.

Details TBA

Shelly Terrell
Speech bubbles smilinga question mark
Friday, September 16, 2022
/
3:30 pm
3:50 pm
CDT
CST

Socialize & Connect

Connect with educators worldwide by joining a themed discussion table or participating in one-on-one speed networking. This session is an excellent opportunity to learn from other teachers and to share your own classroom experiences. The Ellii team will have tables available to answer any questions you have.

Details TBA

No items found.
Movie clapboarda question mark
Friday, September 16, 2022
/
3:50 pm
4:15 pm
CDT
CST

Wrap-Up

Join us in reflecting on everything we've learned at this year's conference. Let's discuss how we can continue making educators’ lives more balanced.

Details TBA

Ben Buckwold

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