ILI’s Janelle Rivers and Chris Elliott received high marks for their presentation, “Boosting Student Talk Time in Zoom,” at the national EnglishUSA conference in February. Participants rated the two teachers at close to 5 on a 5-point scale in all categories and gave them kudos for their knowledge, “up-to-dateness,” handouts and audio-visual aids, and engagement. The session met or exceeded expectations–by far!
There’s no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic causes uncertainties in all aspects of societies around the world. With every challenge, however, comes opportunity. At ILI, the challenge was to innovate our school or not. We chose to innovate, moving all programs online for the time being and making the remote learning experience meaningful and productive. Those of you who are used to the student-centered, welcoming experience that defines ILI expected no less. And as Janelle and Chris showed in their presentation, the focus on students continues.
It was neither easy nor intuitive to make the shift from in-person learning to the remote experience and still deliver the excellence students expect. But Chris, Janelle, and all of our other teachers–who, by the way, love what they do!–are making the seemingly impossible possible!
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