----- Original Message ----- From: ETAI office - etaioffice@xxxxxxxxx Subject: ETAI Newsletter 15 - December 2008 ETAI is getting better and better! Newsletter 15: December, 2008 Dear Readers, And the year rolls on, and we're into December, with three major festivals on the way … Idh El Adha, Christmas, Chanuka, and corresponding disruption and/or enrichment (depending how you see it!) to the English teaching program in school! The ETAI calendar also has some 'better and better' events this month: the northern mini-conference in Hatzor HaGlilit, and the annual Beer Sheva Winter Conference. At Beer Sheva – too many workshops and talks to list here, but the main speakers are Batia Laufer on learning and teaching vocabulary, and Richard Curwin on motivating kids who don't learn. We have had these speakers at previous ETAI conferences, and have invited them back by popular demand. For further details see http://www.etni.org.il/etai/ And at the mini-conference the main speaker will be Elisheva Barkon on reading comprehension (anyone who has heard her before will be eager to hear her again, and anyone who hasn't heard her… here's your opportunity!). There will also be workshops on learning disabilities, classroom management, and a great new website for English teachers. See http://www.etni.org.il/etai/mini_etai.html for details of the program and directions on how to get there. (Note that at both Beer Sheva and Hatzor you can join ETAI at a discount: 130 NIS instead of 175 for the year!) I'll be at both events: hope to see many of you there! And looking further into the future…Last month we had the first meeting of the convening committee of the 2010 ETAI International Conference. We are aware that many of our members can't get to the big international conferences in Europe, the USA and elsewhere, so we try to hold an international conference every few years to give our members the opportunity of hearing speakers of international renown and meeting English teachers who come to participate from other countries. But it's a huge undertaking, and we need support. If anyone out there feels you can help us, please contact Valerie Jakar (vsjakar@xxxxxxxxx) or me (pennyur@xxxxxxxxx). The areas we need help with are the following: planning the academic program, advance publicity, finance and sponsorship, online publicity, liaison with ministries, embassies, etc. Hope to see some of you also at our January mini-conferences in the centre of the country: more details next newsletter! Season's greetings to you all! Penny Ur ETAI Chair Keep your eye on the ETAI website for future announcements and updates! ----------------------------------------------- Call for Articles The Etni Rag needs you ** Etni homepage - http://www.etni.org or - http://www.etni.org.il ** ** for help - ask@xxxxxxxx ** ** to post to this list - etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** -----------------------------------------------