The 2016 AGM, Conference and Teachmeet took place in the Clarion Hotel, Liffey Valley on Saturday 15th of October. It was a great success with the event being sold out.
To accommodate a larger number of attendees, we decided to hold the Teachmeet AFTER the Conference, rather then the night before. This was something that many of you suggested during the survey held on the day and we were happy to be able to make that happen this year. As it was a longer day, we also took on board another suggestion made by many of you, which was to offer a hot lunch on the day.
The first session was on “Exploiting audio visual materials in the classroom” and was led by Rosemary Graham. As in recent years, the afternoon session included peer to peer CPD. This year we focused on approaches to teaching and marking of the opinion piece/link question.
The second session was a peer led conversation on the opinion piece. An emphasis was placed on the “peer-led activity” as there were no examiners present nor any official marking schemes other than that which is available on www.examinations.ie.
We looked at sample work from students and discussed their content and communication as well as shared tips and advice on best practice. Please see the document below (best-practice-opinion-writing) for some of the ideas that we came up with. It was a most worthwhile exercise but as each group presented their feedback, it became clear that there were a number of shared doubts and concerns regarding how to mark the link question to best prepare one’s students for the examination. The teachers present urged the committee to get in touch with the SEC for further guidance, especially given that there will be a Chief Examiner’s report this year. Please see the document below (issues-with-the-opinion-piece-updated) to read more about the doubts and concerns raised.
We were delighted to welcome Tía Tula Language School in Salamanca who gave a presentation focusing on teaching to the A1/A2 language level.
Joan Sutton, former Inspector of Spanish, spoke about differentiation in the classroom.
There was also a brief discussion of the Leaving Certificate link question.
Ailbhíne Ní Bhroin, current Inspector of Spanish, addressed the Association on the day as well.
Finally we had a number of teachers presenting at our Teachmeet who provided practical ideas that work in the classroom.
Check out documents section below for a copy of the agenda (agenda-for-agm-2016).
We were delighted to be able to offer two regional workshops this year, in Kerry and Sligo, also led by Rosemary Graham on “Exploiting audio visual materials in the classroom“. The second session was on “Exploiting texts for grammar and vocabulary”.
The Sligo workshop took place on Saturday 9th of April 2016, in the Sligo Education Centre.
The Kerry workshop took place on Saturday 6th of February 2016, in Dromhall Hotel, Killarney.
A big thanks to Rosemary Graham for providing such an interesting CPD opportunity for Spanish teachers in the south-west of the country.
