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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 [...]
Share the post "Raising a Digital Native in Argentina (by Jennifer Verschoor)"
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. Let me explain my teaching history briefly. I became an English teacher in 1989. I worked at [...]
Share the post "Teaching English at a Japanese Academic High School (by Tomo Wakui)"
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 [...]
Share the post "Teaching in a Small Village in Poland (by Anita Kwiatkowska)"
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 [...]
Share the post "When Did I Become a Teacher? (by Conchi Martínez de Tejada)"
Imagine a persistent traveller who suddenly sees an ominous mountain in front of her obstructing her way. 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 [...]
Share the post "My Teaching ‘Journey’ in Greece (by Christina Markoulaki)"
When I first began teaching very young English language learners in Germany, I went a bit insane! Kids climbed the walls literally and flew the paper airplanes I had actually thought would be a creative lesson plan. With 14 children running around and yelling, “Shelly Belly” I nearly quit. At least they were using English, [...]
Share the post "EFL Teacher’s Kit for Surviving Kids (by Shelly Sanchez Terrell)"
At any moment between 4:30 and 8pm here in Spain, thousands of unqualified people are standing in front of children pretending to be teachers. This, however, is not a game of make believe played by kids with bits of chalk in their hands, but an extremely lucrative industry spread throughout every town and village on [...]
Share the post "Lion Tamers and Circus Clowns (by Troy Nahumko)"
“To teach is to touch lives forever.” Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be an English teacher! It was because my mum was my kindergarten teacher. She was so creative, engaging and inspiring that I wanted to be a teacher just like her. I had my own chalkboard at home and [...]
Share the post "Teaching Kindergarteners in Turkey:Enjoying Every Minute of It (by Özge Karaoğlu)"
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 braided back and always made an effort (or pretended to, anyways) [...]
Share the post "I’ll Show You Mine if You Show Me Yours (by Steven Herder)"
Living in a complex, rapid, digital environment, and having a digital-savvy generation that has grown up in this environment, requires us as educators to be aware of changes and challenges and to bring new tools and technologies into our classrooms. Implementing web 2.0 tools in the classroom can be the key to preparing our students [...]
Share the post "Tools for 21st Century Teachers (by Nour Alkhalidy)"
