Search

ELT Times Search
  • Selling textbooks after you’ve finished using them? Here’s some advice February 28, 2012
    These days, being a student is in many ways more demanding than ever. In other ways, though, those attending university have never had it better. The advent of the internet has brought a wealth of information to the modern learner’s fingertips. The advent of sites like Wikipedia has made conducting research and building up […]
  • Want to employ the best teachers? Test them! February 22, 2012
    Are you looking for new teachers? Make sure you do into the process with a clear strategy for how you ensure you end up with the best candidate. Employee assessment tests are extremely important in enabling you as a recruiter of teachers to be able to make measured and well-informed decisions about the type […]
  • Online learning: Do you have the right personality? February 13, 2012
    Research has shown that online learning is better suited to people who are verbally oriented, rather than those who have visual or kinesthetic skills. For this reason, notes Jonathan Ginsburg, whether or not a student is successful in an e-learning course can depend considerably on their personality and their learning type. Before taking an […]
  • Alternative careers: Operations management February 13, 2012
    Tired of the hoi polloi of everyday life as a language teacher? Why not train to become an operations manager instead? An mba in healthcare management is an absolutely indispensable industry qualification which enables those who take it to hone their decision making abilities. The importance of a healthcare mba In today’s bloodthirsty world, […]
  • Can we use dreams to teach English? January 11, 2012
    Dogme ELT is rooted in the experiences of the learner and what they bring with them to the classroom. Our unconscious mind regularly sends us communication in the form of dreams: it is an advantage to understand the meaning of these messages. As our subconscious sends us only constructive information about our existence, it […]
  • Types of Professional Evaluation in Language Education January 3, 2012
    Introduction Curriculum evaluation has become of increasing interest to educators and curriculum planners since the 1960s (Richards 200 I), and since then it has embraced various aspects of language programs. Evaluation has not only been defined in terms of the purposes it serves, but it has also been given a central role by professionals […]
  • Careers for Graduates of Online TESOL Courses January 3, 2012
    Many exciting opportunities await a qualified TESOL or Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages, notes David Alexander. As the English language gains more and more prominence in the global community, the ability to communicate using it becomes more important. Expect that the demand for individuals with TESOL diploma courses to be greater […]
  • Alternative Careers: Health Care Administration January 3, 2012
    The modern health care business is a viable alternative for tired TEFLers: full of doctors, nurses, as well as technicians who all have to work in an efficiently running workplace. Consequently, health care administrators center their work on the decision making aspects of medical facilities. Online colleges which deliver a health care administration degree […]
  • Alternative careers: public administration December 22, 2011
    The alternative careers series continue with an investigation into public administration. For disillusioned TEFLers, the career option of public administration is a realistic alternative. Public administration is concerned with the accomplishment and the regulation of public policy throughout the diverse branches of government. Public administrators oversee […]
  • Promoting EFL Speaking Activities in the Class: Teacher’s Roles December 9, 2011
    What Is “Teaching Speaking”? What is meant by “teaching speaking” is to teach EFL learners to: Produce the English speech sounds and sound patterns Use word and sentence stress, intonation patterns and the rhythm of the foreign language. Select appropriate words and sentences according to the proper social setting, audience, situation and subject matter. Org […]

Why you should Attend Conferences

In this article, Sharon K Couzens de Hinojosa tells us exactly why we should be attending those teaching conferences.

Going to conferences whether large yearly gatherings or smaller training sessions are a great way to network and tune your skills.

Most professional associations and businesses have some type of conference that they hold once a year. Try to attend a couple in your field, you’ll be surprised at the benefits. Not only will attending training sessions allow you to put this on your CV and make you more marketable to employers, but you’ll find that taking a weekend to go to a training sessions will allow you to reap many rewards.

As the name states, these are training sessions, so you’ll learn the latest information about your career, whether it’s a new computer system, teaching method or even a product that can save you time at work, you’ll be hard pressed not to learn something. But learning new skills isn’t the only thing that you can do at a training session.

As we all know, networking gets you the good cushy jobs. By going to training sessions, you can rub shoulders with the right people, get some business cards, and if you’re lucky you can even get a job offer. Mingling at these types of events will help you learn which places are hiring and which places you should stay away from. You’ll also find that if you attend a couple training sessions, you’ll see the same faces, and may even get the chance to grab a coffee with one of them.





Subscribe to The ELT Times by Email

Getting discounts is another reason to attend these types of events. There are often book fairs and other product fairs where they sales items at discounted prices for those who attend. Raffles might be held and this is another chance to score some freebies.

So even though it may be hard to get out of bed early on the weekend to go to a training session, it’s worth it. You’ll learn new skills, network, meet new friends, and get discounts. Next time there’s a training session in your field, give it a go.


About the author

Sharon K Couzens de Hinojosa is the creator and writer for TEFL Tips, The LA Job List, and The Ultimate Peru List. She enjoys answering people’s questions about TEFLing and Peru.

VN:F [1.9.11_1134]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.11_1134]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Sphere: Related Content

Share

2 comments to Why you should Attend Conferences

Leave a Reply

  

  

  

You can use these HTML tags

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Get Adobe Flash playerPlugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes