Welcome Back Day Conference - An interview with Angeliki Voreopoulou

Our Welcome Back event is just around the corner and we couldn't be more excited to start the new academic year with three inspirational speakers who will take us on a magical journey in the world of storytelling. 

Angeliki Voreopoulou has been an ELT practitioner since 1998. She is currently working at a State primary School in Pella prefecture. She believes that students and especially the  very young ones can learn so much better when introduced to colour, games and storytelling. She stimulates her students by engaging them in projects fostering creativity, collaboration and communication. She adapts all-time classic games like Jenga, Monopoly etc for teaching purposes and she is an avid Etwinner and storyteller. She shares her practices in seminars, talks and workshops.

• What do you hope participants will gain from your session?

For all of us involved in the teaching profession, September defines the beginning of a new school year.  We all look for fresh ideas on how to organize our lessons and welcome back our students. ‘Engaging storytelling activities for a creative new school year’ is a session aiming at providing ideas on how to make our students’ transit from holiday to learning mode smoother and easier.  Participants will familiarize themselves with short stories focusing on sharpening students’ retelling skills while boosting their creativity. I hope that by the end of the session participants will be convinced that there is nothing better than a few funny stories to welcome back their students plus they will have a readymade lesson plan for the first day of the school year!

• How has storytelling changed or influenced your approach to teaching?

We all love stories! Ever since we were children we cherished the moments when our parents or teachers told us a story because our minds could escape from reality and immerse into fantasy worlds. As an EFL teacher storytelling has always been my favourite teaching tool as it provides learners with a lot of exposure to language and it develops all four skills.  It allows recycling of vocabulary and structures in a memorable context and it gives opportunities for practice in a natural and enjoyable way.  Above all storytelling is motivating and fun! I just love the way students focus on the story with eyes wide open listening to every single details and asking for more when it’s over!

• How do you feel about the role of technology in storytelling?

Technology has brought a new dimension to storytelling.  Nowadays there are so many free digital tools, like ACMI Generator, Bubblr, Storybird, Puppet Pals to name but a few, that  can turn a simple idea or a few pictures into a great story!  If we give our students the opportunity to use any of them in the classroom, I am sure that they will work wonders. Their motivation along with their creativity will be immediately increased.