It seems as though it has been more than 6 years. 6 years of blogging!
I started not knowing what I was doing, what to share…and then it all fell into place! I got to know other bloggers, we exchange comments, I learn from readers’ comments, I share classroom experiences, lesson plans, personal moments too…
A million thanks to everyone who has read this blog, supported it, commented on it and taught me so many things!
Here’s to all of you, to 6 years and hopefully more to come.
His name is Abdul Malik.
He is one of the most inspirational educators I have ever come across. One of the stories I have included in the Human Touch presentations I have made in person and online, is that of Abdul.
The men and women who have the right ideals . . . are those who have the courage to strive for the happiness which comes only with labor and effort and self-sacrifice, and those whose joy in life springs in part from power of work and sense of duty.
Every morning he sets off to cross the river in his town, in order to get to school. He could use a vehicle or public transport, but it would take him over three hours. By wading in the river, he arrives in fifteen minutes and to his students much faster, as he says. He swims with a tire-tube around him, and his clothes and food in a plastic bag over his head. When he reaches the river bank right across, he puts on some dry clothes and walks uphill for another ten minutes, arriving at school where his enthusiastic students are waiting for him.
Apart from teaching them the school subjects, Abdul also teaches them how to swim. He not only shows interest in the kids’ learning, but also their well-being, by teaching them how to swim and avoid the danger of being in the water. He teaches them great human values by swimming in dirty waters every morning to get to them on time.
This story makes me think about teachers all around the world, and what they do in order to get to class, to teach their kids. Each one of them is wading their own waters.
A teacher:
When we think of the students and what progress they make and how much they can be helped, as much as how much they teach us during the week, it makes it all worth it.
So in one way or another, we are all wading our own waters, metaphorically or literally, just like Abdul.
Here is a video about him and his wonderful students:
Another academic year started here in Switzerland a month ago. One of my students that I have been teaching ever since I came here in 2009, came back to classes full of enthusiasm to tell me that next year, he will be going to Canada on a student exchange program!
Now my joy is double – he is going to my birth country for the first time, and he is staying there for a whole year! The things he will learn and he experiences of a lifetime he will have! I asked him whether we could incorporate various lessons about Canada into our classes and he agreed. I will be sharing them from time to time on my blog.
Today, I introduced him to one of the most inspiring Canadians – Terry Fox. I remember being inspired when I was in Grade 1 in Canada and our teacher was telling us about him. Terry lost his leg to cancer when he was 19 years old, but that didn’t stop him from deciding to run a cross-Canadian marathon when he was 22, with an artificial leg. He did this to raise money for cancer research. He eventually ran 5,373 kilometres, before cancer had spread to his lungs and was the cause of his death. The legacy he has left Canada and the world is tremendous.
There is a treasure trove of lesson plans from the Terry Fox Foundation that helped us a lot today and we will be going back to it with my other students as well.
We also watched this inspiring and moving video of Terry Fox’s amazing feat. A Canadian hero that continues to inspire us many years later.
Back to the amazing 30 Goals Challenge by Shelly Sanchez Terrell!
Here is Goal #1 for 2015 – support a movement. I am very fortunate to be part of several movements for educators – I learn so much from being part of them, interacting with the educators involved in them and I feel that they help me grow as an educator. Some movements I am a member of:
Today’s interview is with a person I have never met with in real life but I feel we have known each other forever – Doug Peterson! I am thrilled to have Doug on the blog for many reasons.
Doug is an educator from Amherstburg, Ontario Canada. He is a sessional instructor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Windsor. He has taught Data Processing, Computer Science, Accounting, General Business Studies, and Mathematics at the secondary school level and was the Director of Business Education at Sandwich Secondary School in Lasalle, Ontario. He was also a Computers in Education Program Consultant with the Greater Essex County District School Board and before that, the Essex County Board of Education. In the middle of all this, he managed the Information Technology Department for the Greater Essex County District School Board. Most recently, he is teaching the Computer Studies teachable option at the University of Windsor.
His formal education includes a Bachelor of Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Toronto. Ontario Ministry of Education and Training qualifications are in Data Processing, Computer Science, Accounting, and Mathematics.
Doug and I have collaborated on a number of occasions, either blogging or exchanging information on social media. I have learnt so so much from him and I really love his blogging skills! Doug can come up with a new blog post practically every day, and each time it is interesting and definitely worth reading and learning from. You can read more on his blog, Off the Record.
Thank you so much, Doug!
Here is his interview in two parts:
And here is the link to the interview Doug and I had on his blog two years ago.
Here are some of the interviews I have given:
Joanna Malefaki has created an amazing blog challenge, where teachers write to their younger selves, called the #YoungerTeacherSelf blog challenge. What a great idea and what lovely posts we have read so far!
I had to start teaching almost as soon as I got into university, for the reason that I was studying far away from my family and they could not fully afford my studies. Therefore, I had to dive right into it, but I was fortunate enough to have great professors and colleagues to help me out in this difficult, but incredible journey.
Here is my letter to 18-year-old Vicky and a few years after that, when I was a scared teacher, afraid of many things and mainly how it was going to be.
Dear Vicky,
I know that your whole life you had been dreaming of becoming a lawyer, and that education was your second choice. I assure you that this is a choice you will never look back on – you will absolutely love it and you will be happy you accidentally got into it!
You will have lots and lots of students and you will learn so much from them and from teaching them. They will come to you with dreams, enthusiasm or lack of it, a great variety of talents and each and every one of them will leave their mark on you. Mistakes are part of the deal, but don’t worry, you will always make them. You want to learn and become better, don’t you? These mistakes are there to remind you of this.
Some day, you will be connected to so many educators, not only face-to-face, but also through the internet. Especially through social media. What is all that social media stuff, you ask? You don’t believe me? Wait and see! You are excited about emails so far, but just wait until you see what other things you will be using in a decade or two! And you will learn so much from and with these educators, who come from all over the world.
It is absolutely fine to deviate from the coursebook. Do you think that task on page 76 is not appropriate or does not help your students? Skip it! Change it! Weave it into something else and don’t worry. Not all students learn the same way and not all tasks work out as they are designed. You want the best for your students, right?
Be happy you did not take that professor’s advice, who told you in your second year not to become close to the students at all, because they will only “take advantage of you” and “you are there only to teach them, not help them with their lives in general”. Regardless of their age, students are all human beings with feelings and if we can help even one of them with a problem they may be facing, it is so important. They are not only there for us to teach them the difference between Past Simple and Present Perfect and then shove them out the door.
Whatever you do, don’t stop learning. You will never know everything and that is super! You will always be developing and growing as a teacher, through reading, writing, attending conferences, learning sessions. This is something you will tremendously enjoy. Keep going and keep learning!
Love,
36-year-old Vicky
I had my share of language learning experience as a child. This is the time when you don’t question the grammar rules or their exceptions, when it’s perfectly okay to make mistakes, be corrected or a tad embarrassed in front of a whole class because you don’t really care.
Then you grow up… All of a sudden, you are conscious of making mistakes, you want to understand the logic behind every grammar rule and yes, and you will be mortified when making mistakes. Why? Because you are an adult, an educated person expressing yourself at a level of a young child and that is just disturbing: you have your ego protesting and screaming: hey, I am not stupid!
I have been learning Chinese and that is not an easy task. Set aside the tones – it’s like learning to sing – the wide variety of dialects, not to mention the many words that sound alike, with different meanings, of course. So while you are trying to say I am a teacher you might be actually saying I am an old rat…
So naturally, most the time when I am mingling with the locals, trying to get the right breakfast on the street, I do feel like a small child – however, and not a smart one…
It all ended when Frank, a well-educated engineer started taking English classes, at a beginners level.
I sensed his frustration, because he really wanted to express himself but couldn’t. How could he? He had just started his journey of learning English at the age of 38.
And last week, after failing to get his message across, he just burst out: “I am stupid! I like 5-year-old!” And that’s when it hit me: I did understand his frustration because I have been feeling the same way.
So I told him: “Yes, you are right: you do sound like a 5-year-old. But that’s okay! Because you are learning! It will get better, I promise. Then I told him: “I also am a 5-year-old… “– in Chinese…
He smiled and was grateful. I assured him: nobody thinks he is stupid, it’s only the beginning.
Frank also helped me, inadvertently. I no longer care if a local gives me that weird look, or even laughs at my fragile attempt to express myself in Chinese. I just gently remind myself: “It’s okay. It will only get better!”
For April, my birthday month, I am very happy to present you with another super educator I admire tremendously for her creativity and optimism, Christina Chorianopoulou! Christina lives in Athens, Greece and she teaches students of all ages and levels.
She blogs at My Mathima (which is the Greek expression for My Lesson) and is very active on social media. She shares and writes and constantly creates something – either in education or as one of her hobbies!
Watch her extremely motivating interview:
One thing I love about teaching is that we can change the way we teach whenever we feel the need to and we can always get new ideas, which we can then implement in our classes!
I love teaching specialised English, or ESP (English for Specific Purposes) – for instance, English for Accounting, English for Hair Salons, Aviation English, anything! I also learn along with the students.
On to our story now: for the past few months I have been teaching a wonderful lady I was very fortunate to meet about a month after I came to Switzerland 6 years ago – I started teaching her son (who is still my student and is a brilliant young man). She really supported me in the beginning and still does – and now I am very lucky to teach her! I love her enthusiasm for learning.
A couple of weeks ago, during our lesson, we were talking about the food from our countries and in general what we like to cook – when we reached the topic of Thanksgiving, she asked me what some typical dishes are for that day and I mentioned my apple pie. Now, my apple pie is a funny story, because my family loves it, but I am the only one who cannot eat – I am allergic to apples! However, I still make it and everyone enjoys it.
Anyway, a week later, my student came back and asked whether I could teach her how to make apple pie. As an exception, we would have the lesson at her house and we would cook together! She was so kind as to drive me to and from her house back to my school, and she bought all the ingredients as soon as I gave her the recipe.
So the week after we were at her lovely home, baking! We learned so much new vocabulary together and she practised her speaking skills in a different environment from the classroom. She really enjoyed it and so did I! She was very happy to tell me about the cuisine in her country, experiences she has had in other countries…all in English!
I really loved this experience, as it was something completely new for me and I am happy we did it! It actually gave me ideas for other lessons as well…let’s see how they go!
(If you want to try it out, here is the recipe!)
Vicky Loras's Blog 