CLIL Workshops & CLIL Training

Inspirational hands-on workshops that provide ideas and activities teachers can use in their lessons, tomorrow.

Practical workshops for schools in The Netherlands

Below you can find the different workshops that are available, following the structure of the CLIL Quality Roadmap.

Basics of CLIL
Language skills
Scaffolding & Thinking skills
Activity Design
Lesson Planning
Feedback & Assessment
Curriculum design
Cross Curricular
Quality Collaboration

Practical activities

Not (just) theory, but practical lesson ideas that can be implemented the day after the workshop. After all, it is not like teachers have hours of time to prepare all of their lessons.

Step-by-step

As the workshops are organized around the CLIL Quality Roadmap, teachers have a clear path to follow and know exactly when they are going to learn what.

Learn by doing

During the workshops, teachers experience the activities themselves. That way they not only notice what the activity is like from a student perspective, but it also more fun!

1| Basics of CLIL

Laying the foundation

Learning something new always starts with the first step, and that is exactly what this module is all about.

Together we will explore CLIL. We will figure out what it is (and also what it is not!), how it can be applied to your lesson and how it relates to other types of language learning.

Topics in this module

  • The definition of CLIL
  • Soft CLIL vs. Hard CLIL
  • Common misconceptions

    At the end of this module you have a clear understanding of what CLIL is and how it can be applied to your lesson.

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    2| Language skills

    Getting students to engage with language

    CLIL is all about implementing language in the lessons. 

    After all, it is not called content and Language integrated learning for no reason, is it?

    Implementing language in the lesson, knowing students have trouble with the content already, can be quite a challenge.

    In this module we will discuss just that! 

    Some of the topics in this module

    • Language as a tool
    • Applying the four language skills
    • BICS & CALP

      At the end of this module you know a variety of ways to implement language in your lesson, like motivating student output.

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      3| Scaffolding and Thinking skills

      Implementing essential teaching techniques

      Scaffolding is crucial to CLIL teaching as you are not only a subject teacher, but also a language teacher. This means you need some way of structuring this learning for students.

      With the 6 thinking skills of Bloom, you can help students to learn more effectively and provide a wider variety of activities to ensure more engagement in your lessons.

      Some of the topics in this module

      • What is scaffolding (and what is not scaffolding..)
      • Three types of scaffolding you can apply
      • Why scaffolding learning and scaffolding language is different
      • The difference between LOTS and HOTS
      • How to implement LOTS and HOTS to your lesson

        At the end of this module you can integrate scaffolding in your lesson without having to think of additional activities. You will also be able to apply the thinking skills to the activities you do to increase motivation and possible differentiation.

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        "The workshop leader was enthusiastic and informative. The benefit to new CLIL teachers was evident in their feedback and questions during and after the event."  

        Kevin schuck

        PENTA College CSG Jacob van Liesveldt

        4| Activity Design

        Creating engaging CLIL activities

        Before you can design a CLIL lesson, you have to be able to design a CLIL activity.

        Creating effective tasks and activities that allow for differentiation can be quite a challenge.

        In this module these challenges will be discussed.

        Some of the topics in this module

        • Applying differentiation effectively
        • Setting up effective tasks
        • Elements of a good CLIL activity

          At the end of this module you can develop a CLIL activity for your lesson in a short amount of time.

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          5| Lesson stages

          Preparing effective CLIL lessons

          Preparing CLIL lessons does not need to take a lot of time. With the step-by-step procedure discussed in this module, every CLIL teacher can prepare a CLIL lesson while keeping an eye on all of the topics discussed before like scaffolding, language skills and thinking skills.

          Some of the topics in this module

          • The four lesson stages
          • Over 15 CLIL activities to be implemented in these stages
          • Infrequent lesson stages (and activities for those)

            At the end of this module you can prepare a CLIL lesson in 15 minutes or less.

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            6| Feedback & Assessment

            Effective feedback on language

            One of the key elements of CLIL is motivating student output. But if a teacher does not provide feedback on this, the student will still not learn anything.

            This module also discussed the interesting topic on integrating CLIL in assessments, for example: what role does language play in subject assessments?

            Some of the topics in this module

            • Six different types of feedback
            • Summative vs. Formative feedback
            • Integrating language in assessments

              At the end of this module you can provide effective feedback on both learning and language.

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              "The topics were chosen well and the teachers learned a lot"

              Karen Verdel

              Comenius College

              7| Curriculum design

              Planning a CLIL lesson series

              Preparing a single lesson is important, but a lesson is almost always part of a lesson series. This means CLIL activities can also be implemented over a longer period of time.

              This does not just save you time as you do not need to create the same activities every lesson, it also creates a clear learning path for students.

              Some of the topics in this module

              • Lesson series design
              • CLIL activities that can be used during multiple lessons
              • Quick no-prep-time CLIL activities to be used on the spot.

                At the end of this module you can implement CLIL activities during lesson series and can improvise with CLIL activities when needed.

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                8| Cross Curricular

                Going beyond your subject

                CLIL can be applied to every subject. But that does not mean it is an easy thing to do. In this module teachers will work on creating activities that can be implemented in various subjects, showing students the knowledge and language needed for each subject is not for that subject alone.

                During this module the collaboration possibilities of teachers will be discussed.

                Some of the topics in this module

                • Cross-curricular posibilities
                • The role of language in a subject lesson
                • The role of the EFL teacher in the CLIL team

                  At the end of this module you can apply language elements of your CLIL lessons throughout different subjects. Not just in project weeks, but throughout the year.

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                  9| Quality Collaboration

                  The role of CLIL within the organization

                  Just like a lesson is always part of a lesson series, a teacher is always part of an organization. In this module, teachers will also discuss the policies implemented at school, to see if they are actually up to date and according to their needs and wishes.

                  Some of the topics in this module

                  • The role of the CLIL coordinator within school
                  • The CLIL policy within a school
                  • Effective observation tools

                    At the end of this module you know the importance of CLIL within your organization and know what role everyone has.

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                    How I make workshops work

                    Workshops are a great way to inspire teachers and provide new ideas for their lessons.

                    However...these ideas are often forgotten a week later.

                    Making investments in single workshops often a waste of both money and time for teachers (and schools).

                    My approach to workshops differs from many others for two reasons:

                    1. 1
                      Focus on making long term impact on the organization with follow-up sessions
                    2. 2
                      Guide teachers with a unique, step-by-step approach to CLIL training

                    After all, as a trainer I also hate to see the effort from teachers go to waste after one training!

                    1

                    Not just one afternoon, but long term planning

                    To make sure the activities and ideas from the workshops are actually applied, I suggest not just doing a workshop.

                    But provide a follow-up of some kind.

                    This can be done in various ways:

                    1. 1
                      A series of workshops
                    2. 2
                      Online group coaching
                    3. 3
                      Individual coaching

                    Applying some kind of follow-up ensures long term effects in classrooms

                    2

                    Not just random topics, but a step-by-step plan

                    A step-by-step approach to CLIL training

                    Teachers have different needs and are at different stages when it comes to experience.

                    Yet, workshops are often focused on one topic, for everyone.

                    Applying the framework of the CLIL Quality Roadmap, workshops are tailored to the specific needs of the teachers.

                    And also provide a clear step-by-step plan to improve the CLIL skills of teachers.

                    Not just random topics, but a clear learning path.

                    Get in touch

                    You can use the form below to get in touch and discuss what might be possible for your school.

                    For Dutch schools only

                    What other people say about (online) workshops

                    "We had Patrick do both a workshop and a feedback session after lesson visits. Both were highly appreciated but it was the personal feedback on their lessons colleagues appreciated most in particular because of Patrick’s down-to-earth approach and extremely helpful tips and tops. We’ll definitely invite him again."  

                    Jan van den bos - Da vinci College

                    The Netherlands

                    Want to know how these CLIL workshops can help out your team?

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