Eva Suárez Guillén, a teacher and blogger based in the Canary Islands, talks about her experience at The Image Conference.
1. What did you enjoy about The Image Conference?
It was a wonderful day, full of interesting talks, people and everything took place in an incredible location. I came back home with a backpack full of inspirational and motivating ideas.
2. How was The Image Conference different from other conferences you’ve been to?
I teach at a “Escuela Oficial de Idiomas” in Spain, a state institution and I normally attend conferences aimed at our teaching and assessing policies. Our conferences tend to focus on course and lesson plan design and assessment, and I really needed something different.
3. What were the main discussion points to arise in The Image Conference?
The use of image, both video and photographs were the main points, of course, but from different points of view: appropriateness of images, use of them in class, use of not-so-serious materials and history of video in the teaching of ESL.
4. Are there any practical activities you saw in The Image Conference which you’re going to use in your classes?
I have to admit that I’ve already used some of them, like the storytelling method presented by Jamie Keddie or some of the video activities you can find on Kieran Donaghy’s Film-English.com. I really enjoy using videos in class and I’ve tried all possibilities: short films, film trailers, adds, music videos, film fragments, etc. But if you ask me what I would like to implement as new, I will definitely try other possibilities like the use of collages in class, or the removing of background suggested by Ian James.
5. Would you like to see a second edition of The Image Conference?
Yes, for sure. Teachers always need inspiration.
