Real Talk in ELT

In this episode, I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with Mirela Ramaciotti... I'm just going to say it: she's like the godmother of MBE in Brazil. Mirela is amazing and so so knowledgeable. Her CV speaks for itself and I was thrilled to sit down with her and talk about all things Mind, Brain, and Education. She's exactly the type of person I could listen to for hours because the field she works in is fascinating and so applicable to what ELT professional need to do on a daily basis. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and get ready to learn how we learn.  

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Get in touch with Mirela on social media @neuromi or at her website www.neuromi.com.br

Contact Kelly: 

Instagram @kellypenningtonELT 

Email [email protected] 

LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/kellyapennington

References: Ramacciotti, M. (2019). The importance of clarity and goals for learning. Bulletin of the JALT Mind, Brain, and Education SIG, Volume 5, Issue 1, 33-35(ISSN: 2434-1002).  Ramacciotti, M. (2019). Teacher Literacy Policy Recommendation and Programme for Action on the Neurobiology of Learning Differences. Proceedings of the 2019 IAFOR ACEID (Asian Conference on Education and International Development) 2019, 129-142. (ISSN: 2189-101X). Available at http://papers.iafor.org/wp-content/uploads/conference-proceedings/ACEID/ACEID2019_proceedings.pdf Ramacciotti, M. (2019). Empathy – what, how, and why for a better understanding of this shift in perspective. Bulletin of the JALT Mind, Brain, and Education SIGC. Volume 5, Issue 7, 6-11 (ISSN: 2434-1002).  Ramacciotti, M. (July 22, 2019). Sobre Escolas Privadas e Futuro: O Que Temos e O Que Queremos. [blog post]. Plataforma UNOi Educacação.  Ramacciotti, M.; Eccles, C. (2019). Linguagem, aprendizagem e desenvolvimento: perspectivas sobre aquisição linguística e funcionamento cerebral. Revista EntreLínguas, [S.l.], p. 104-120, Apr. 2019. ISSN 2447-3529.  Ramacciotti, M. (2019). Self-Efficacy and Learning. Bulletin of the JALT Mind, Brain, and Education SIG. Volume 6, Issue 2, 12-19 (ISSN: 2434-1002).  Ramacciotti, M. (2020). Women in ELT, Talking EFL Special Edition. March 2020, 6-8.  Ramacciotti, M. (April 15, 2020). Porque o que estamos fazendo agora em ensino NÃO é aprendizagem online: catarata não se opera em pronto-socorro [blog post.  Ramacciotti, M. (2020). From Anger to Redemption: Learning about Acceptance. Bulletin of the JALT Mind, Brain, and Education SIG. Volume 6, Issue 7, 35-37 (ISSN: 2434-1002). Ramacciotti, M. (2020). Bilingualism as a resource for neuroplasticity: a hypothesis to be consid-ered. Revista da ABRALIN, v. 19, n. 2, p. 1-6, 1 Oct. 2020.  Ramacciotti, M. (2020). Bilinguismo como recurso de neuroplasticidade: uma hipótese a ser conside-rada. Revista da ABRALIN, v. 19, n. 2, p. 1-6, 1 out. 2020.  Ramacciotti, M. (2021). Attention Tickets: a strategy to reduce attention scatter in remote and hybrid learning environments Ramacciotti, M. (2021). Se7e Narrativas para Desmistificar Neuromitos [podcast at : https://anchor.fm/mirelaramacciotti/episodes/Captulo-VII--O-Reencontro-de-um-sonho-do-livro-SE7E-NARRATIVAS-PARA-DESMISTIFICAR-NEUROMITOS-e134j54 ] Ramacciotti, M. (2021). Teaching Children about the Brain: it´s all in the (baby) steps. Teaching Lan-guage Learners about their Brains. Mind BrainEd Think Tanks 7 (11), 33-47. ISSN: 2434-1002.  Ramacciotti, M. (2022). Looking Back (Addendum to Entrance and Exit Tickets). Mind BrainEd Think Tanks: Class Extras: Little Detours to Improve your Language Classes 8 (3), 11-12. ISSN: 2434-1002.   Ramacciotti, M. (2018). Aprender: entendendo o cérebro. Oficina Digital. ISBN 978-85-93404-22-1

The wonderful BT MBESIG put on a Roda Viva style event with the incredible Dr. Ingrid Finger. Needless to say, I am one of her fangirls now. Dr. Ingrid is such a boss, she is so well-versed in her area and can explain her perspective in a really down-to-earth relatable way. In this episode, I go through my notes and insights from the event.   

Disclaimer: I am still learning in this area, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes and misinterpretations that I make. Please correct any mistakes I made in the comments!  

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Contact Kelly: 

Instagram @kellypenningtonELT 

Email [email protected] 

LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/kellyapennington

After exchanging messages back and forth a bit, I was finally able to sit down with Abraão. He and I were introduced through a mutual friend, Walter Curti, and totally hit it off. He is a very accomplished teacher and school owner currently located in the interior of the state of Sao Paulo. We sat down to chat about some differences between teaching in big cities and small towns here in Brazil, the relationships we cultivate and some other topics.  

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Connect with Abraão on IG @abraao.hs.elt or on his school's page @ccl_ingles  

Contact Kelly: 

Instagram @kellypenningtonELT 

Email [email protected] 

LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/kellyapennington

In this episode, I caught up with someone who I became fast friends with las year, Ramona Signeanu. She's a wonderfully experience and super competent teacher hailing from Romania. I was really interested in Ramona giving us some information about the English language learning and teaching scenario in Romania. We look at the proficiency of school children leaving the high school, the university system and how people get into ELT.  

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Contact Kelly: 

Instagram @kellypenningtonELT 

Email [email protected] 

LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/kellyapennington

Oooh! I was so excited to have the Bad Girl of Business English come on the episode so she can speak candidly about coaches, mentoring, running an business and entrepreneurship, and whether or not we can teaching Business English to lower levels. Karin is honest and gives such great insight into what her experience has been after decades in the industry.  

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Get in touch with Karin on social media @teacherkarinheuert and her business @istudy_interactive_learning  

Contact Kelly: 

Instagram @kellypenningtonELT 

Email [email protected] 

LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/kellyapennington

In this episode, I sat down with one of the famous Fróes in ELT - Gabi! She's the other half to the dynamic writing duo of Leandro Zanazzi and is an extremely accomplished teacher. Not only did we talk about her move into the ELT world but also her passion form writing and literature. She's also involved in mentoring teachers and we connect on many levels on our approaches to helping our peers. We, of course, had a wonderful chat and some laughs about life as educators.  

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 Be sure to get in touch with Gabi on social media @gabrielafroeselt  And if you want to look into her book recommendation check it out here: https://eltngl.com/search/productOver... 

Contact Kelly: 

Instagram @kellypenningtonELT 

Email [email protected] 

LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/kellyapennington

Are we our biggest critics? In this episode of Real Talk in ELT, I reflect on a session I ran for an observation task. I was with several teachers in a training program and was tasked to lead an experienced teacher lesson observation. The discussions and opinions that came from my session made me consider and reflect on a few things. Why are teachers so critical of other teachers? If you are criticizing how someone has planning or delivered a lesson are you backing up your opinion with some evidence-based explanation and offering some suggestions for the future? If you are critical because it is not the way you would deliver the class have you thought of the impact on the students and if it was effective?  

Does anyone else have thoughts on this?  

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Contact Kelly: 

Instagram @kellypenningtonELT 

Email [email protected] 

LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/kellyapennington

The dynamic duo are back at it again with me to talk about all things test prep! I wanted to pick Sergio and Rodrigo's brains about things to do before and during the tests. Both of them are Cambridge examiners so I also wanted some insight into what exactly the examiners are looking for and how to interpret the Cambridge scoring bands.  

Thank for watching/listening! Be sure to hit the subscribe button and the bell to get updates on new videos.  P

lease contact Sergio and Rodrigo on their social media: 

Sergio - @sergiopantojaelt 

Rodrigo -  @rodrigosigolielt // @outoftheboxlanguage  

Contact Kelly: 

Instagram @kellypenningtonELT 

Email [email protected] 

LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/kellyapennington

In this episode, I got to sit down with these two fantastic professionals who have recently started a new project together... a ELT YouTube channel bringing some great CPD content for all of you teachers out there. We started out discussing professional development and a bit about the career path Walter and Bruno took in ELT, then they shared with me how their project came about and what teachers can expect from their new channel: ELT in Brazil.  

Thank for watching/listening! Be sure to hit the subscribe button and the bell to get updates on new videos.  

Check out Walter and Bruno's channel:  @ELT in Brazil   

Connect with them on LinkedIn!  

Contact Kelly: 

Instagram @kellypenningtonELT 

Email [email protected] 

LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/kellyapennington

How do you keep track of your learners progress? Can they also see their progress throughout the course? In this episode, I dig into some practical suggestions that might help you and your student see where you've been, where you are, and where you're going. Developing learner profiles and encouraging your students to create and maintain a learner portfolio might be just what you need to give you the information and data to progress in your courses!  

Thank for watching/listening! Be sure to hit the subscribe button and the bell to get updates on new videos.  

Contact Kelly: 

Instagram @kellypenningtonELT 

Email [email protected] 

LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/kellyapennington