Teachers United

It has been said that stories are to humans what water is to fish. We are immersed in them, shaped by them – even controlled by them. But we are not always aware of how deep the influence goes. And just as water can become polluted, so too can our story environment.

In this practical talk, we will explore why stories matter, how they work, and how they shape our perceptions. You will leave with ready-to-use teaching ideas to help your students recognise how storytelling operates in contexts such as advertising, politics and the media.

‘Teaching the plan or the students?’ This is the question that teachers ask themselves quite often. Being reactive to varying classroom situations and addressing students’ spontaneous language use is what defines a supportive and effective teacher. However, is it the teacher's intuition or a set of well-learned and time-proven strategies that helps? Should such emergent needs be catered for in the moment or just ignored? What teacher interventions to apply in order to address them skillfully?

How does Grade support teachers from their very first meeting through to professional growth? We’ll discuss our system for hiring, onboarding, development, and ongoing support. In a live conversation format, we’ll share real cases, insights, and behind-the-scenes stories — honestly and without sugarcoating. Whether you work with teachers or teach yourself, this session will be both interesting and useful.

Teaching English for Specific Purposes can feel like navigating without a map. This workshop acts as your GPS — guiding you step-by-step to identify learners’ true needs, create relevant materials, and design courses that deliver real results. You will gain practical tools, proven strategies, and ready-to-use templates to confidently develop tailored ESP programs that align perfectly with learners’ goals and enhance their professional language skills.

A look at some key features of spoken grammar and how to introduce this into the classroom

Clear task instructions can make or break a fluency activity. In this practical workshop, you will explore simple ways to set up communicative tasks that truly get students talking. We will look at common problems with task instructions and discover how to avoid them. You will practise breaking down tasks into clear steps, using models and checks to make sure students understand. Together, we will try out techniques for giving instructions and setting up speaking tasks with confidence and clarity. By the end of the session, you will be equipped with ready-to-use ideas to bring fluency tasks to life in your own classrooms.

There is no doubt that feedback is a powerful tool for teachers' professional development. Yet, it is very often perceived as a routine post-observation exercise activity. Even more, a lot of teachers find it daunting or even intimidating.

In this interactive session, we will move beyond this perception and show how feedback can become a flexible, personalised, and empowering tool for ongoing professional growth.

We will explore four key feedback styles—directive, facilitative, collaborative, and dialogic—and reflect on when and how each can be used most effectively in mentoring relationships. Through case-based group work and guided discussion, we will analyse how to tailor their feedback approach to suit different teacher profiles, levels of experience, and developmental goals. Apart from that, the participants will be equipped with a practical toolkit of ready-to-use resources, including a mentoring checklist, feedback sentence starters, etc.

Meet Jon Hird in person! Get your copy of Spoken Grammar or other ELT titles signed, have a quick chat, and take a memorable photo. A great opportunity to connect with one of the most inspiring figures in ELT.

Educational marketplaces are opening a new era in learning. They enable teachers to monetize their own materials, gaining additional income without the need for complex technical infrastructure.

At the same time, other teachers get access to ready-made resources from colleagues, which reduces preparation time and allows them to focus more on working with students.

Even now, marketplaces are becoming key centers of educational innovation, helping teachers adapt more quickly to the needs of modern learners.

Discover how marketplaces help English teachers earn from their materials and save time on lesson prep by using colleagues’ ready-made resources. In this workshop, we will explore how these platforms work, what opportunities they provide, and how to create materials that bring both income and value.

What is it about language teachers and video? Why do we feel the need to turn to sites like YouTube as a source of material and inspiration? Adverts, short films, and TikTok videos might be fun and entertaining. But why bring them into the language classroom?

The answer is simple. Like all human beings, language learners need narrative. As teachers, we intuitively know this and video provides us with a constant stream of visual stories to engage them.

In this workshop, you will learn a simple but or brings the story and the people to the front of the class. You will learn to maximise students` engagement with the narrative and get them speaking, writing and critically thinking.

Error correction is one of the most challenging aspects of teaching: correct too much and you risk demotivating students; correct too little and errors become fossilized. How can we strike the right balance?

This highly practical workshop explores a range of error correction techniques designed to build learner confidence and promote lasting improvement. We will also focus on how to provide corrective feedback without interrupting fluency, and how to revisit errors in creative, engaging ways after a task or lesson. By the end of the session, teachers will have a clear error correction “toolkit” and a better understanding of how to turn learner mistakes from an “Ouch” moment into an “Aha!” learning opportunity.

Did you know that your school can become international this academic year? Without hiring new staff or making additional investments, but with a real opportunity for your graduates to receive a Ukrainian certificate and an American school diploma. We will tell you about the dual diploma programme, which gives students the opportunity to study at an American school in parallel. You will learn how to improve your school's rating and create a unique offer for parents. We will also talk about group tours for schoolchildren to language schools abroad and why immersion practice is most effective. You will learn how to organise a joint educational trip for your class and how to turn it into a motivational tool for the whole year.

Format: Implementation steps, case studies from partner schools, answers to your questions.

What is it about language teachers and video? Why do we feel the need to turn to sites like YouTube as a source of material and inspiration? Adverts, short films, and TikTok videos might be fun and entertaining. But why bring them into the language classroom?

The answer is simple. Like all human beings, language learners need narrative. As teachers, we intuitively know this and video provides us with a constant stream of visual stories to engage them.

In this workshop, you will learn a simple but original approach called "videotelling" which brings the story and the people to the front of the class. You will learn to maximise students` engagement with the narrative and get them speaking, writing and critically thinking.

A workshop for teachers and managers of language schools who want to reduce student attrition and increase student loyalty.

We will discuss motivation and comfort in learning, a transparent student trajectory, quick response to problems and, in particular, the role of digital tools (LMS, CRM/ERP) in control and analytics.

At the workshop, we will seek answers to the following questions:

• What everyday tools help teachers motivate students?
• How can managers track the risks of attrition and respond quickly?
• What role do CRM/ERP and LMS play in increasing transparency and trust?

Being a student can be a lonely business. So too can being old, being different, feeling the whole world is against you or being a teacher. There are ways out of loneliness for all of us, though, if we want there to be.

How can teachers ‘get together’, how can students ‘be together’ and how can people in times of trouble come together to get through it? That’s what we’ll examine both professionally and personally in this talk.