Posts Tagged ‘Professional Development’

2009 Edublogs Nominations

Dec 9th, 2009

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!”

What I’ve Learned from My PLN (November 14, 2009)

Nov 15th, 2009

by Barbara.

9 comments

(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?) The seven guest authors for the “Front Lines of EFL” series have been the members of my personal learning network I’ve shared with most intensively in the past few weeks, [...]

I’ll Show You Mine if You Show Me Yours (by Steven Herder)

Oct 11th, 2009

by StevenHerder.

21 comments

Part of the series: Stories from the Front Lines of EFL Committed to learning After 20 years in the EFL classroom, I still learn new things all the time. Certainly, here in Japan, the students are completely different than they were back in 1989; in those days, they all sat up straight, had their hair [...]

A 1.5 Million Yen Secret (by Steven Herder)

Sep 23rd, 2009

by StevenHerder.

11 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 [...]

What I’ve Learned from my PLN

Sep 17th, 2009

by Barbara.

3 comments

(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!

Stories from the Front Lines of EFL

Sep 16th, 2009

by Barbara.

13 comments

Do you remember the Indian fable about blind men describing an elephant? Depending on which body part they touched, they described a very different animal. At times, trying to describe English as a Foreign Language for young learners feels a bit like describing an elephant. There are two things common to young learner EFL classes: they [...]

What is a PLN, anyway?

Sep 10th, 2009

by Barbara.

32 comments

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 [...]

What I’ve Learned from My PLN (August 22, 2009)

Aug 22nd, 2009

by Barbara.

19 comments

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.

Life in the Virtual Teacher’s Lounge

Aug 17th, 2009

by Barbara.

4 comments

Part of the series Giving Second Life a Second Chance I love teacher’s lounges in the same way I love coffee breaks at conferences. They’re great places to make friends and build professional networks (same people, different roles). The people I meet become my partners in learning.

Exploration for Personal and Professional Gain

Aug 12th, 2009

by Barbara.

2 comments

Part of the series Giving Second Life a Second Chance Professional development in Second Life is generally one of two types: using Second Life as a place to learn about things, and learning how to use tools in Second Life to do things (like teach). In both cases, it’s the people you meet who matter most–they will teach you, learn with [...]