In February, I talked with approximately 1000 teachers in Fukuoka, Okayama, Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo as part of the OUP Teaching Workshop Series. Workshop titles were assigned to fit an acronym. I was the “I” in K.I.D.S.—Interactive Ideas for Keeping your English Classes Relevant for the 21st century. The challenge for me was how to [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Professional Development’
Do It Your Way (by Janet Bianchini)
Part of the series: Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know
A very good friend, Ehrhard, a retired teacher from the former GDR, recently wrote a letter to me, which made me truly reflect. He told me that he was so happy that he had taught English “his way” successfully for many years, even though his [...]
Text Your Knowledge (by Nick Jaworski)
Part of the series: Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know
As a manager I interview a lot of teachers. One question I always ask is about reading texts. If you have a short reading text, what are some different ways in which it can be used? I am constantly surprised by the lack of responses I [...]
Things I’m happy to know (by Tamas Lorincz)
Part of the series: Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know
I jumped at the opportunity to contribute to what I believe to be one of the best blogs in the EFL blogosphere.
I allocated an hour to writing this post, and even after 12 hours of fruitless toil, I am none the wiser.
http://wordle.net
What should every EFL teacher [...]
2009 Edublogs Nominations
There’s a useful word in Japanese: giri-giri. The closest English translation is probably cutting it close or by skin of your teeth, as in “I”m submitting my nominations for the Edublogs Awards giri-giri!”
A 1.5 Million Yen Secret (by Steven Herder)
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 [...]
What I’ve Learned from my PLN
(Note: If this is the first post you’ve read in this series, and you’re mystified by the PLN acronym, start with What’s a PLN, anyway?)
This has been a resources kind of week for me–free books and free conferences!
What is a PLN, anyway?
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 [...]
What I’ve Learned from My PLN (August 22, 2009)
Showing is better than telling. So, for teachers trying to decide whether having an online personal learning network (PLN) is worth the effort, I thought it might be useful to show some of what I learned this week from mine.
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