I have recently had the pleasure to visit a contemporary art exhibition in Vienna, whose main focus was the experience of alienation. I am by no means an art expert, therefore I am in no position to judge or comment on contemporary art, but among all the amazingly thought-provoking installations and artworks I witnessed, one …
Category Archives: personal experience
I'm tired
I apologise for the rant that follows, but sometimes I just need to get things out of my chest, and this is one of those times. Despite the best efforts of the institution I work for to actively promote equality, we still get loads of requests for madrelingua (native speakers). And do you know where these …
Storytelling with YLs
Last year I worked with a group of ten eight-year-olds in an afternoon, after-school class. I met the children once a week for one hour and a half, the idea behind it being to reinforce what the children were already doing at school using children’s books as a base for the lessons. At the time …
Re-engaging teenage students
This is a follow-up to my previous post about a student who completely switched off during my first lesson with his group. I had another (the third) lesson with the group today, and here’s what I did to improve the situation. How I tweaked my lesson After the first couple of lessons, during which I “studied” …
Students switching off
I have recently started a new course with a small group of 17-18-year-olds in a school. The course is aimed at supporting the work their classroom teacher is doing, with a possible outcome being to then prepare the students for a certification. I had my first lesson last week, and as usual I prepared a …
What keeps you motivated?
Yesterday I was talking about motivation with one of my students, and so I started asking myself: what makes me invest time (and sometimes money) in CDP, in writing this blog, in reading and reflecting on my teaching? I guess the main motivation for me comes from seeing students go out of my lessons smiling, …
Journalling and setting goals
I’ve recently purchased a journal (affiliate link) that is designed to help the user improve themselves and get things done by setting goals and reviewing them periodically. I’ve been journalling since I was something like 9 or 10, and I still find it helpful, so I decided to try this new experience starting from this new …
About dress codes (and monks)
Around here we say l’abito non fa il monaco (lit.: robes don’t make the monk), but apparently Italians do judge books by their covers, or monks by their robes — and people by the clothes they wear.
My beliefs as a teacher #1
Today I’d like to start to share a series of ideas and reflections on my own teaching practice and ‘theory’.
Self-observation in the classroom
I don’t know if this word even exists in ELT, it’s probably called ‘self-reflection’ or something similar. Terminology aside, this is what I’ve tried to do more consistently in the last few months: consciously noticing and if possible reflecting on the on-the-spot choices I make as a teacher in the classroom.