Tagged: reflection

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5 lessons for educators from “McFarlane”

A number of years ago I wrote a post titled, “5 lessons for educators from “The King’s Speech”.  It was well received and today I thought I’d write a few similar thoughts after watching the movie, “McFarlane“. I totally expected the movie to be a...

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Courses – New and Improved

Over the holidays, I worked hard to update and improve and then launch 2 new and improved courses.  The Basic TESOL Certificate course and a reflective teaching course – Zen and the Act of Teaching. The certificate course is paid. Very low price, lifetime access to...

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FREE: Zen And The Act Of Teaching

Zen And The Act Of Teaching is a reflective journal about the “art” of teaching for inservice or practicing teachers. I created it because of my deep belief in the need for a practical book that would help teachers to reflect both in discussion and writing,...

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I wish my students knew ……

I’m sure you’ve heard of it unless you’ve been hiding in your classroom, overwhelmed.  Teacher Kyle Schwartz asked her students to finish the sentence, “I wish my teacher knew ……” The answers are heart wrenching and more important than just what they reveal about their...

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Not just playing a part

I’ve been working on a new post this weekend, a reflection on my own development as a teacher and all the footprints that truly led me to where I am right now. Something for myself but which other teachers might find some truth therein. I’m...

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Sharing Yourself (Online)

As a teacher trainer, one of the things I have trainees do many times, is to reflect on themselves, their personal qualities and their accomplishments. Just this little bit of reflection sets a teacher on more solid ground from which to progress. You can do...

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Stories From The Trenches 2

I had the luck to start teaching English at a school where I basically had free reign to teach as I saw fit.  It was just after the fall of communism in the Czech Republic (then still Czechoslovakia), a beautiful spa city, Karlovy Vary. I...

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Stories from the Trenches

If you’ve been to any of my training sessions, workshops, presentations – you’ll know I often start with a story  They are a perfect way to frame conversation and get us thinking about our teaching.  We are hard wired for narrative and I think for...

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Reflective Writing: Thomas Farrell

Last month I attended a weekend course on Reflective Practice led by Thomas Farrell.   This year, one of my own goals has been to attend to my own professional development instead of leading workshops, giving presentations and all that.  As the French say, “reculer...

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The End is the Start

I ended my year and sent off my new teachers into the wide world of education. Fingers crossed. Lots to relate about my year pontificating and sharing, nurturing, cheerleading teachers to be, to be reflective about education and schooling. Here though, I’d like to share...

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Teachers Talking About Teaching

I just finished up my school year, sending off a new group of teachers into the possibility that is teaching / education. This year in my course, my students did some reflective journal writing using my book Zen And The Act Of Teaching.  I spent...

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Letter to Self

I just got home after an absolutely stunning fall day with my preservice teachers class – Education and Schooling. This year, I’m again using an old trick I learned from the amazing Benjamin Zander. I’m getting them to write letters to themselves. They write a...

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Reflections on “Being A Teacher”

I’m sitting in one of these chairs, in “god’s country”, lakes and rocks and trees, trees, lakes, rocks, rocks, rocks, lakes, trees, trees, no people.  Divine. My last few days before beginning a return to the classroom. I’ve spent the evening, refreshed by the lapping...

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Reflective Then, Reflective Now ….

Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? – T. S. Eliot Right now, I’m living in the same city as I went to Teacher’s College,...

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Zen and the Act of Teaching

A few schools have purchased this book – I think that is an accomplishment. I’ve had innumerable conversations about the contents and a few people will be mentioning in forthcoming reflective teaching books. Here’s the book in presentation format (click the photo). It’ll give you...

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Zen and the Act of Teaching

I’ve been digging through my old teaching diary from teacher’s college (1990). Interesting to note how much I still believe and how much has fallen into the dustbin of “doing it for awhile”. Part of writing a journal is this discovery of one’s teaching self...

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What I know now but didn’t then

Teaching a language isn’t as easy as it sounds – to do it well. Just showing up to a class and speaking (we call this modeling language) is only half the job. And that other half is an art form that one acquires over the...

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The #1 … (difficulty in being a teacher)

** Not your ordinary, endless list – just what’s number 1. The participation in the creation of something which is invisible. There are so many things that make a teacher’s life difficult. To name just a few of the thousand: noise, planning, snotty noses, mouthy...