Lately I’ve been feeling a bit pessimistic about the state of ELT. It feels everyday more like a club we NNEST are not welcome to join.
When I look around me, online and offline, I see more and more people participating in the NEST-NNEST debate, affirming that there should be no differences. That gender, colour or religions shouldn’t make a difference when hiring a teacher.
Then I do a quick reality check, and things start to look a lot different.
Continue reading “Does equality really exist in ELT?”
This year I have been given many more YL classes at school, so expect to read posts on teaching children or teenagers.
Contrary to what I believed, I am actually enjoying the new challenge. I will keep track of my progress and any difficulties or issues that arise here on this blog.
As usual, thank you for stopping by, I look forward to reading your comments. 🙂
Getting to know each other activities for YLs
A few weeks back I had to cover a lesson with a small group of young learners (6-7 boys and girls aged 10-11). It was the group’s first lesson, and while some students knew each other from the previous year, there were also some new students so I decided to devote about half the lesson to getting to know each other.
Here is the sequence of activities that I used, which I think worked really well: Continue reading “Getting to know each other activities for YLs”
My #bucketlistchallenge
Following Hana Tichá’s post and her challenge to other bloggers to write their own bucket list, I’d like to share my own list of 10 things I’d like to do in the future.
Some of these things have been in my bucket for years, some are new and exciting. I plan to do my best to make them all come true, using a journal I’m keeping which is helping me setting and working towards goals in my daily life.
So here’s my list, starting from the oldest dreams:
- Visit Japan
- Go on a walking holiday
- Learn Korean
- Learn Spanish
- Grow my own vegetables
- Become a teacher trainer or a DoS
- Write for this blog at least once a week for a year in a row
- Cook a vegan lunch/dinner for all my friends
- Meditate every day + Go on a longer (5-7 days) meditation retreat
- Be able to run for 10 or 15 km continuously
I’ll keep you posted if and when I succeed in making these bucket dreams come true!
7 blog posts you shouldn't miss
Today I’d like to do some meta-blogging by writing about not some specific blogs — you can find a list of my favourite blogs on the right — but about specific posts I often go back to. They inspire me, help me, give me practical ideas, so I want to share them with you, hoping they will be as useful to you. Continue reading “7 blog posts you shouldn't miss”
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, when I see them improve their English (rarely, since I usually see them for a short period of time) and… yes, also when I notice my own English improving. 🙂
I also enjoy the fact that this job makes me see many different people, and is never boring, as I wrote some time ago. Continue reading “What keeps you motivated?”
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. They are by no means definitive or true, they just represent my impressions on a very complex, and sometimes mysterious process. Continue reading “My beliefs as a teacher: learning and teaching”
My top 6 posts
Today I was looking back at my old posts, and I realised some have been quite popular compared to my average number of visits/views, and others are posts I’m quite proud of, despite the low number of visits.
So today I’d like to go a bit nostalgic and list here my top favourite posts from this blog. Continue reading “My top 6 posts”
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 of an adult or a teenager. Continue reading “My beliefs as a teacher: role of the learner”
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 school year.
I want to see if I can survive the busiest time at school without becoming as stressed and bad tempered as I did last year. I’m hoping this journalling process will help me find focus and put things into perspective in the long term. Continue reading “Journalling and setting goals”