Teaching Village

What is a PLN, anyway?

Jan 3rd, 2012

A good friend (and a great teacher) e-mailed me after my last post. “Great links,” she said. “But what’s a PLN?”

A good reminder about why I try to avoid acronyms and jargon in my writing.

PLN is an acronym for Personal Learning Network. The acronym is relatively new, but the idea is not. Teachers have always had learning networks—people we learn from and share with. Teachers are information junkies. We’re also social. Put the two together and you have a personal learning network. Continue reading →

Posted in: Personal Learning Network.
Tagged: IATEFL · JALT · ning · PLN · Professional Development · twitter · yahoo groups · young learners

Language, Camera, Action! Motivating Young Learners with Video (by David Dodgson)

Jan 3rd, 2012

by DaveDodgson.

6 comments

Back in the sepia-tinged days of 2010 when I was still very much finding my way around blogs and Twitter, I was virtually introduced to Barbara and she kindly offered me the chance to do a guest post here on Teaching Village about how I used PowerPoint in class. 18 months on, we again get the chance to collaborate as part of the EVO 2012 Digital Storytelling for Young Learners team along with some other fantastic educators, namely Shelly Terrell, Özge Karaoğlu, Esra Girgin, Jennifer Verschoor, Michelle Worgan, and Sabrina De Vita (full details are included at the end of this post). Continue reading →

Posted in: High Tech Ideas for Low Tech Classrooms, Technology for Teaching and Learning.
Tagged: digikids · digital storytelling · Electronic Village Online · EVO · tesol

Come join the Electronic Village Online (by Carla Arena)

Jan 2nd, 2012

by Barbara.

11 comments

I’m here to tell you about how a simple acronym – EVO – changed my life and was a true turning point in my professional development. When I joined the Electronic Village Online for the first time to take the online session Becoming a Webhead (BaW), I had the feeling it was special in the sense of learning something new, understanding more about this online world, and connecting to like-minded educators for a period of time. Never could I imagine that the Electronic Village Online would be way more than my initial expectation. The Electronic Village Online was a new beginning of renovated passion for my profession as an educator, of lifelong learning and the joy of being always connected. It was not about a definite time, it was about constant feeding and improvement in who I was as an educator and person. Continue reading →

Posted in: Personal Learning Network, Professional Development.
Tagged: elearning · Electronic Village Online · EVO · tesol

Learning Lessons in Thailand (by Rob Newberry)

Dec 31st, 2011

by RobinThailand.

9 comments

I teach in an International School in Bangkok. The “internationality” of the school is an interesting term, as there really are two languages spoken here — English and Thai — and not necessarily in that order.

There used to be signs posted around the school saying, “Proud to be an English-speaking only school,” but when I went to find one today, hoping to include a photo of it in this blog post — I couldn’t find any around anymore. Curious. Continue reading →

Posted in: Stories from the Front Lines of EFL.
Tagged: children · ICT · Teaching · technology · tefl · tesol · Thailand · web 2.0 · young learners

Raising a Digital Native in Argentina (by Jennifer Verschoor)

Dec 30th, 2011

by Barbara.

3 comments

Deciding where to send your child to school is arguably one of the hardest decisions a parent has to make. My 4 year old daughter attends a regular school in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The school is not bilingual and offers English as a compulsory subject.

I have been speaking in English to my daughter since she was born. She understands the language and feels very confident. Children at school even thought she came from “Disneyland” because she was fluent in English. Continue reading →

Posted in: Technology for Teaching and Learning.
Tagged: ARCALL · argentina · bilingual · bilingualism · blogging · children · digital native · Teaching · technology · young learners

A 1.5 Million Yen Secret (by Steven Herder)

Dec 29th, 2011

by StevenHerder.

13 comments

If you read Stories from the Front Lines of EFL, and thought, “I’d really like to be part of this project, but I’m not sure anyone would be interested in my story” then this post is for you.

Answering just a few important questions can give you the confidence to share your thoughts and ideas about teaching. It may take a bit of time, some reading and some effort, but anyone can do it. You can benefit yourself and all of us by taking this step in your own development as a teacher. Everyone has some great successes from the classroom to share, and all of us really do want to learn from you. Continue reading →

Posted in: Professional Development.
Tagged: education · PLN · Professional Development · teacher training · tefl

Teaching English at a Japanese Academic High School (by Tomo Wakui)

Dec 28th, 2011

by Barbara.

15 comments

My teaching History

Hello. My name is Tomoe Wakui. Please call me Tomo. I am a high school English teacher in Niigata, Japan. I am very happy to have this opportunity to introduce myself here in Teaching Village.

Tomo Wakui 1 Let me explain my teaching history briefly. I became an English teacher in 1989. I worked at a Girls High School. Except for only having female students, it was just a normal high school. Continue reading →

Posted in: Stories from the Front Lines of EFL.
Tagged: English · Japan · Teaching · teens · tefl · tesol · testing

Teaching in a Small Village in Poland (by Anita Kwiatkowska)

Dec 27th, 2011

by Barbara.

8 comments

anita 4

In September 2003 I got a phone call from my former primary school teacher offering me a part time job in the old primary school I started my education in. I felt extremely excited!

It was my first real job offer and I was supposed to work with teachers who had taught me the alphabet as colleagues! At that time, I was still a student at a university but as I had already completed my pedagogy and methodology courses, I was more than welcome in Szkola Podstawowa in Tuchom, Poland. Continue reading →

Posted in: Stories from the Front Lines of EFL.
Tagged: children · English · Poland · Professional Development · Teaching · tefl · tesol · young learners

When Did I Become a Teacher? (by Conchi Martínez de Tejada)

Dec 26th, 2011

by Conchi.

17 comments

It’s difficult to pinpoint the precise moment when you become a professional in your area. Some will say it’s when you start your degree, others when you finish it still others will say it’s when you start working. Even more people feel that they need years of experience in order to consider themselves a so-called professional.

In my case, I don’t know when I became a teacher. Maybe it was when my parents hung a blackboard behind my bedroom door. Maybe when I first arranged all my teddy bears and my little cousins as my first students. It might have started many years later when I wanted to drop out from my dreary Economics degree and I bought books about teaching, but I didn’t have the courage to actually follow through on my instinct (fate, desire, willingness) at that time. Maybe it happened when I left my bank job, went to Yemen and by chance ended up in front of 20 Yemeni men teaching them English. It might also have been when I came back to Spain from living in Laos and I studied Education. Or maybe it started a month and a half ago when I got my position to work in a primary school in a village in my home region of Extremadura, Spain. Continue reading →

Posted in: Stories from the Front Lines of EFL.
Tagged: children · education · English · Professional Development · Reflection · Spain · Teaching · tefl · tesol · young learners

My Teaching ‘Journey’ in Greece (by Christina Markoulaki)

Dec 25th, 2011

by Christina Markoulaki.

25 comments

Imagine a persistent traveller who suddenly sees an ominous mountain in front of her obstructing her way.

A photo I took on the island of Santorini.

Determined to arrive to her destination, she climbs up the steep slope, ignoring the surrounding thorns and other invisible dangers. What is her eventual reward? She has reached the peak right on time to feel the calming effect of a most memorable sunset.

This is how I personally perceive teaching to be: its initial joys give way to responsibilities, potential trouble in class and special needs to cater for. But every single time the teacher has the chance to witness the progress her class has made, all efforts are justified and there is a soothing effect on the soul. Continue reading →