My wandering 2017

The end of 2017 is approaching, so it feels like a good time to stop for a moment and take stock of this blogging year. This blog has been (and hopefully will be) a great CPD tool, as well as a great place to come to when I needed to put something into writing in order to make it clear in my mind.
I feel particularly proud in that this year I successfully published a post a week — excluding a couple of summer months when I was feeling quite burnt out and needed to get away from it all — keeping my 2017 New Year resolution to do so.
This is also probably the longest I have ever had a blog, as well as the most productive blogging experience I have had so far. Here are three things I find particularly useful of blogging about ELT:

1. Discovering new points of view

This is definitely the biggest advantage. When I have a problem that seems unsolvable, I can always count on my blog and all the wonderful people who pass by to inspire me, give me a new perspective on things and find a solution where I never thought to look. Often just writing about a problem is a cathartic process that will help me solve it, or find new motivation.

2. Keeping a record

By writing about lessons that went well or not so well, of solutions and practical ideas, this blog is becoming a sort of notebook that I can refer to when I find myself in need of ideas, or when I am trying not to repeat the same mistakes.
It is also an amazing record of how I’m growing and changing as a teacher and as a person. Sometimes I go back and I can’t believe I wrote posts like this one no longer than a year and a half ago. This gives me a very tangible sense of my progress — which we all know is key to keep going forward.

3. Writing

Personally, I also find it a great writing exercise. I enjoy writing and (as you might guess) I love the English language. This little virtual space allows me to marry these two things in a wonderful, and at the same time pleasurable, writing practice.