I HIGHLY recommend Rebecca!! We just had a workshop with her and she is great. Emilie Delcourt: founder and director at Collage school in Barcelona commented on Facebook
“Rebecca Lemaire created a great atmosphere, she was organised, supportive and really motivating. She linked theory with a lot of practice.
She introduced us with truly innovative content, materials and many ideas to work on. I also received lots of important information for my personal development.I’ve learned a lot during this course and I feel enthusiastic to put the methods in practice with my students. ” Feedback from a secondary school Catalan teacher after the 30 hour intensive course, on the Ministry of Education platform.
Some of my current workshops:
1. Stepping outside the story: let’s make our storytelling activities relevant, creative and non-limiting. All levels and ages.
What kind of activities do we usually plan around stories or course book readings and listenings? Are we limiting our students by only asking them unnatural questions and having them do unnatural activities? Let’s rethink and ask ourselves: how can we tap into and encourage our students’ innate human love for telling and listening to stories? What effects can these activities have on presentations, pronunciation, writing, critical thinking, classroom management and much more?
This session presents practical ideas and activities around stories for all ages, which can also be adapted to listenings and readings in class. Come ready to talk and improvise!
2. Making your classes meaningful.
Teaching reading and writing while fostering creativity and motivation for teenagers.
3. Let them get on with it! Fostering autonomy and creativity in the primary classroom. Why and How?
A lot of the literature and workshops on learner autonomy revolve around teenagers and adults, and mostly deals with encouraging self-study and autonomy outside of the classroom. So how can we encourage autonomy in class and with younger students? Is it possible? This workshop explores these questions and argues that learner autonomy and creativity are both sides of the same coin and are usually already present in young learners. Encourage one and the other will flourish! I will present a framework which can be adapted to different contexts as well as practical tips and activities. You will also get a chance to share your ideas and tips!
4. Peak Performance for students and teachers through mindfulness.
Mindfulness is not about being quiet, subdued and passive. Mindful behaviour and practices increase creativity, joy, concentration and productivity. Short and simple down-to-earth exercises of coming into the present, opening to oneself and to the group, awareness as well as task switching rather than multitasking can make a world of difference in the classroom and at home. This workshop presents practical tips, activities and exercises for teachers to do both at home and in the classroom to help themselves and their students with concentration, classroom management, motivation and much more.
5. Listen; listen to my story – meaningful listening.
This workshop explores how to improve listening skills through stories and non-recorded live audio: live listening. Teacher talk, which is often considered a flaw in teaching, can become a powerful tool for improving fluency in listening as well as providing a meaningful context for listening activities. Rebecca introduces listening activities and exercises that move away from True and False and testing. These activities give a meaning to listening in class and can be adapted to text book listening audio.
6. Storytelling for creative writing.
As teacher’s we often ask our students to be much more creative than we could ever be. Writing creatively from scratch is difficult without ideas, a framework and guidance. The activities presented in this workshop create an environment in which creative writing happens almost effortlessly as a response to stories and narratives presented by the teacher as stepping stones. Storytelling activities also help students structure their ideas and this can be done from very low levels with the correct guidance.
7. Roald Dahl for teachers of teenagers and adults.
Introduce your students to Roald Dahl’s twisted, funny and dark world through oral storytelling. Get them listening, get them talking, get them waiting for the twist, and get them reading!
8. Storytelling workshops and courses for English teachers.
Communication in English from the beginning! Teachers and students as storytellers (without a book or text)
(short introductory workshop or 30 hour course).
In these workshops, we explore:
1. How teachers can develop their storytelling skills.
2. How these skills can be taught to our students in an ESL context.
3. How storytelling by teachers and students may be exploited in the ESL classroom.
For more information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Where to find good stories and storytelling activities online:
lesson plans, tips and ideas or download a list of websites. You can also listen to many storytellers on my Youtube channel: Rebecca Lemaire
9. Rhythm and sounds: teaching pronunciation for all ages and levels.
- Adapting Adrian Underhill’s method for young primary learners.
- Do our students need/want to sound native or do they need/want to be understood ?
- Encouraging our students to leave their comfort zone.
- Some tools and websites here