Thank you so much for your insightful feedback.

I agree that from time to time it is good to experience what it feels like to be a language learner, which is what you so wonderfully reflected upon in your “EdYOUFest Takeaway” feedback. 

I am glad that I did not make you feel too stressed after all. Obviously, in a normal class we do each sound step by step in several lessons, so by the time we get to the “revision stage” (such as the “board race”/”catch the sound” activity), there is definitely much less stress involved than it might have been during the workshop for you, where I had to do things quickly with the ELT teachers, most of whom were familiar with the theory behind this. 

As a matter of fact, I think it was also comforting for the non-native participants of the workshop to see that even native speakers do not know everything. Unlike you or other native speakers, non-native participants of the workshop must have had some phonetics and phonology basics at uni (IPA transcription). However hard we, non-native ELT teachers, try, we know we can never be perfect and know everything, so it is comforting to experience situations when even native speakers do not know something :).

In one of the lectures at EdYouFest the speaker who is also a psychologist mentioned that we should encourage cooperation rather than competition in our ELT classes. In my opinion, competitive language activities can be fun and very useful, provided that they are conducted with special care and in a friendly environment so that nobody feels under (too much) pressure, but rather like a team member in a fun game-like activity.