After a long hiatus since my Module 1 exam, I have finally started Module 2. I will be working on it all through the summer, and hopefully will have my certificate by September. The good thing about it is that it is helping me to feel motivated again — a lack of motivation is what …
Category Archives: teacher training & CDP
My #tdsigcarnival contribution: peer observations
This post is in response to TDSiG request to share teacher development success stories as part of their 2018 Web Carnival. In my experience, one of the most successful and useful TD activities we do where I teach are peer observations. In this post, I would like to explain why. 1: Quick and easy tricks …
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Delta module 1 exam is over
Some impressions after sitting Delta module 1 exam.
After more than 15 months of preparation (while also working full time), I finally sat module 1 exam last Wednesday. Of course I can’t say anything about the result, as I will not know until next February, but I just wanted to note down some impressions I have had after doing the exam.
My beliefs as a teacher: learning and teaching
Today I would like to discuss a deeper aspect of my beliefs as a teacher: how I assume we learn a language, and how this affects what I consider effective teaching. What follows is a list of beliefs I gathered from observing myself and from analysing how I myself learned my second (and third) language. …
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My beliefs as a teacher: role of the learner
As part of the post series on my beliefs as a teacher, today I would like to discuss the role of the learner as I see it from where I stand. I will try to make this as generic as possible, even though I believe the role of a 4-year-old child is very different from that …
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My beliefs as a teacher: role of the teacher
As part of the post series on my beliefs as a teacher, today I would like to discuss the assumptions and principles about my role and aims as a teacher. As everything else, I am sure these ideas are in constant change, so that if I was to re-write this post in a year or even …
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Realisations
I am writing this quick post to share a realisation I came to this week. After one year of worrying and studying for Cambridge Delta module 1, I finally feel it’s paying off. Even if I won’t pass the exam in December, I recently saw the fruit of all my hard work, which makes it …
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.
About mindfulness in ELT (again!)
Last year I wrote a blog post about what I perceived as a commodification of an amazing Buddhist concept: mindfulness, or sati. Today, I would like to go back on the topic, after I’ve recently attended: a one-day Vipassana meditation retreat; a two-hour training session on mindfulness for teachers. I now feel I have familiarised with both …