"When one teaches, two learn"
I’ve had some free time these days to rethink my role in education and in particular ELT. So think of this post as the start of my St. Augustinian “Confessions”. English language teaching is great! It’s given me so much and I’ve traveled the world,...
There has been a lot of debate about the ideas of Sugata Mitra. He tends to get under teachers’ skins, especially those in ELT. Find a nice summary of these posts / discussions through this post. I’m kind of confused by all the kerfuffle. I’ve been...
“Like your body, your mind also gets tired so refresh it by wise sayings.” ~Hazrat Ali I think many of us get inspiration from sharp quotes that strike like a bolt of thunder and get us seeing things anew, with fresh insight. I’m an...
One thing that has slowly happened to me in my own development as a teacher – I’m now less absolute and sure of myself. Now, that may seem a contradiction and that after 25 years meandering through the fields and mountains of schools, classes, education,...
I’m sitting in the airport in Toronto, heading out to the ISTEK ELT Conference in Istanbul. Looking forward to my presentations there and at other universities in Turkey. I’m especially excited because of the focus / theme of the conference – “Through their eyes: Understanding...
Over the last 5 to 10 years, I’ve been developing new ideas about how we should be teaching in our classrooms. These ideas have changed as the possibilities and promises of educational technology have become reality. The most fundamental of these ideas are always...
The one thing I have always wished about school – that it was a marketplace of ideas/learning where all in the community could come and go as they please. A doors open, windows blowing fresh air through policy. This is far from how it works....
{ I originally published this in Barbara Sakamoto’s wonderful blog – Teaching Village. I revive it here because I think its message is pertinent and important. } “The problem with our profession is that there is too much teaching and not enough learning”. I said...
“The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, “the children are working as if I don’t exist.” – Maria Montessori During the last year, I’ve been following the KhanAcademy locomotive as it chugs on to distant fertile lands and...
My blog is something I put a lot of myself into. A way I have a conversation with myself as much as with you the reader. It is organic and natural. As I look over the last year and 250 + posts, I see one...
“but I gave them the room to just do the thing. Figure it out, go create” – Diana Laufenberg One of the things I’ve often done with teachers and students alike is just give them a set of materials, say flashcards and then, “just get...
I’ve been busy, busy, busy! So not posting much but here is the preface of the course book I’ll be publishing tonight or tomorrow. Teach | Learn. It outlines how the book works and the rationale for the books use and strength as a teaching...
{ I think this a great reflective activity for any teacher. Going to make this part of the curriculum in some of my future courses, for sure. Find my full philosophy of education – here. } What subjects have you been teaching? What types of...
I have written and pounded the pulpit long and hard on the issue of teachers “getting out of the way”. Ranted and pleaded with teachers to be more inductive in their approach, more sandbox about the learning environment. No greater compliment to my own constructivist...
Web 2.0 and English Language Learning A New Model or A New Muddle? “ In the electronic age, we wear all mankind as our skin” – Marshall McLuhan (this article is one of a series on my blog – highlighting how educators can publish and...
Continuing on from our other BEST Videos series (Funniest / Inspiring Students), here are my picks for favorite videos to inspire teachers. They all contain important messages and I consider each and every one MUST viewing for any long term teacher. Honorable mentions to the...
One thing I’ve become convinced of as a teacher, is the fact that WE can be our own worst enemy. Meaning, somehow our own experiences, our 1,000s of hours in the classroom observing teachers, have conditioned us to “be teachers” and that this gets in...
If you’ve found out anything about me here beyond running and running at the mouth — it is that I love TED > Technology, Education and Design, a series of talks by the best in the world. I even made our own updated page/feed which...
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