Maybe I won’t retire this blog after all. It occurs to me that, if I am to practice what I learned at school, this would be the ideal place to “reflect” about my life as a teacher. I have just finished my third week of teaching in an intensive English program. Too much time has…
They call it a Wonder Wheel!
I wish there’d been time for more writing of reflections. The things I reflected upon in real-time tended not to be the predictable byproducts of the curriculum, but rather tangential and sometimes in opposition to what was happening in the classroom. Documented reflected practice is impossible without sacrificing something else important. I decided to pour…
During college, I was talking with two classmates about what we’d learned in various classes: what had (and hadn’t) been tangibly valuable. “You know the class that I thought was great?” I asked. I told them. One started nodding her head in enthusiastic agreement, and the other looked at me as though I were from…
During college, I was talking with two classmates about what we’d learned in various classes: what had (and hadn’t) been tangibly valuable. “You know the class that I thought was great?” I asked. I told them. One started nodding her head in enthusiastic agreement, and the other looked at me as though I were from…
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: How to Avoid a Terrible Work Situation as an English Teacher Abroad By AJ Hoge http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0503/teaching_english_abroad_the_good_the_bad_the_ugly.shtml “We’re not teaching another class until we get paid.” The teachers room boiled with angry foreigners. Korean staff ran to and fro in a panicked frenzy. Underlings scurried between the owner’s office…
Situation here dismal. I’m going nuts. Have tried to keep my spirits up but being watched and criticized constantly has cracked me. I can’t wait to leave. Every time I walk by a window in this house I want to break it. Every time I pass one of my two cohabitants, I want to trip…
From TeacherVision. [dealing with disabilities, but applicable]: http://www.teachervision.fen.com/classroom-discipline/resource/2943.html How to Manage Disruptive Behavior in Inclusive Classrooms Question 1. Could this misbehavior be a result of inappropriate curriculum or teaching strategies? [Inappropriate curriculum: yes. It’s too abstract, doesn’t tie to their lives, and is beyond their interest. I tried to tie it to their lives in…
Here is Luz reading her homework about the importance of gymnastics. [audio:luz.mp3] And here is Lupita on swimming. [audio:lupita.mp3] And here is the teenage class trying to learn American pronunciation. [audio:teens.mp3]
I don’t think I like teaching. I worry too much if everyone is happy. When people aren’t paying attention I take it personally, and also don’t know how to manage getting their attention back. It’s hard to be on-stage non-stop. Everyone paying attention is watching your eyes for their next cue. The others have no…
“Sometimes I’ll call upon an attitude of some of my old teachers. If there’s a character of, say, a rather pompous man who lays down the law but is actually very amiable, I will think of a man called John Brantston. And say, ‘May I have a word with you?’ “Or a rather more steely…
Hi guys. I think I’m done collecting accents now. It takes a long time, particularly the editing. I was gonna get more but I’m burned out. The files are too big to upload here but I can give them to you via Flash drive if you want. I edited all the clips down to under…
A brief note about the role of the institution in a student’s motivation. As the weeks have passed I’ve been hearing more and more about the sorry state of SIT’s — or at least the MAT program’s — fiscal and morale difficulties. I’ve learned that just before I arrived, the school laid off a significant…
From University of Nebraska, Lincoln Office of Graduate Studies [Ginna’s Note: This is clearly geared toward American students and much is not applicable overseas. I don’t think I’d have South Africans making a game out of passports, considering (among other things) their history of passbooks.] Do you consider yourself “name-learning challenged?” Do you find it…
Here’s an inspiring, thought-provoking e-mail I got today from Karen. She gives insight into what I might notice in her classroom. “We had a great time and I look forward to seeing you soon. Let’s set a date, maybe for August, for you to come visit my classroom. It would not be disruptive at all.…
