Respect: Take it
Does anyone respect teachers anymore? Parents? Kids? Teenagers? Adults? When I meet someone and they happen to ask what I do, which in Europe is extremely rare, and I tell them I’m an English teacher, I get no further questions.…
nondas
Contingency plans when under (teaching) duress
It’s Sunday, rainy and cold, in England. I am away from my family and I am headed into week 3 of school dining hall food. Oh man! Where’s the silver lining? Let’s have a look. I had a class this…
Empower your students
It is important to emphasize to teachers that students are the ones in the classroom that should be talking and communicating not you, the teacher. Many teachers seem to forget this simple truth and like to go on their rants…
Change the status quo
Changing the status quo We’re always looking for the easy way out. Looking for a shortcut to our problem, to our homework, to our tasks. We start doing this from a young age, with chores, and then, we try to…
The obstacle is the way
‘What is defeat? Nothing but education; nothing but the first step to something better.’ -Ryan Holiday Changing times Youngsters complain nowadays about how they can’t find their passion. It’s a problem many of them face and one that I had…
Bring on the change
Change is a process. Change is the hardest thing we can choose to do. That’s cause people don’t like change. They like what’s comfortable and familiar, if you force them to change then they will resist and maybe even protest.…
Facing our fears
The Beginning- Taking risks When I started teaching, I was scared out of my boots. I was scared of making a fool of myself, of what the students would think of me, scared of making a language error or teaching…
Bringing change to education
Everything has a beginning The time has come to begin fresh. This is a beginning without an end I hope. It’s an effort to try and connect with those of you out there who want to see change and bring…
Full Circle-Getting my own place
When I was eighteen I left home and went off to college. It was an exciting time and I was anticipating the freedom and independence that came with leaving home and being out in the real world, finally! In my…
Staff Pick: Isolated dogs
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The Olympics: Time for Change
In light of the Olympics going on for the past two weeks and myself being a massive supporter, I’ve decided to blog about this and go off the educational route this week. I wanted to reflect on the Olympics now…
Choosing a Language School
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]When I arrived to Krakow in search of my first job as an English teacher I was optimistic. My feelings were reinforced when I discovered that there were language schools all across the city. I thought, well, this should be…
Course Book vs Authentic Materials
Playing it safe Hmm… what to do what to do? When we start off we usually stick with that course book like it’s our holy bible. When a language school hires us we walk in, pick up the appropriate level…
Summer Bliss
It’s the 8th summer and there is no end in sight. If you had asked me back in 2009 that my summers would be spent like this and for 8 years running I would have shook my head and smiled…
Summer Reading
The summer is here! What a relief. Now we can take a break and stop thinking about learning, teaching, studying, homework and on and on. When I was in school I did what most students do today, threw those books…