2011 Aims: November update

Well here we are. One month left of the 2011 aims and when I actually publish that It will be after the end of the year and the start of 2012! 


As such next month I am going to start reassessing my goals for next year. I'm going to start with a complete clear plate not even looking at my aims for this year to see whether the same things come up or if anything else comes up instead.


If you want to see a review of my previous months goals then click the link here.

1.I will give at least a 10% tithe in addition to any other giving I will do.

The habit of setting aside my tithe at the start of the month before any other money has well and truly been entrenched! In addition I have noticed that I really am in better control of the money I have. I am very please here. 

2. Making Prayer a stronger habit. 

This month I have actually started reading the chapter on Prayer in the book Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. So far I can certainly say that I really needed the kick up the back side that it provided. It is truly worrying how many things I wasn't doing. 

3.Use skype more to chat to people back home/Britain

I managed to have my first long chat with my family this past weekend and I also caught up with a very good friend. So overall very good!

4.  I will improve as an EFL teacher.

Definitely true this month. My new blog is well on it's way and I have taken part in the first International House on-line workshop, Joined in with many more #EltChat meetings and started some new reflective practices! All in all a lot of new things that I can really see have helped improve me even more. 

5. I will improve my Russian.

I have managed to get more speaking practice this month and it would again appear that I am currently pushing beyond my plateau of last month. However, despite this I am not really taking structured approaches to improving my Russian. It's actually only writing this I have truly realised how true this has been and as such have no immediate ideas about what I should do to solve this. On the plus side I have noticed my pronunciation has improved and become less apparent. 

6. I will write more songs. [this goal isn't being pursued, instead I tried to write an e-book...and failed! BUT I did try.]

7. Host a weekly meal at my flat.

I managed to host one meal this month... This new school year certainly seams to have seen me be worse at inviting people round but also people accepting invitations. I guess I should follow the parable of the banquet and invite those who have nothing round...However that seams really scary, especially across the language barrier!

8. Regular and higher quality blogging.

Well apart from the start of the month where a strong cold knocked me for 6 and blogging went down bellow 1 a week I have somehow managed to get over halfway through my series on Top 10 TEFL tips and keep this blog going, I have also used images more and focused more on my layout. In addition I have also been following Jeff Goins intentional blogging course which has certainly given me food for thought.

9. I will get involved with some form of charitable work in the Ukraine.

Still a big no here :(

10. I will make a Public video each month.

Again it would appear I haven't made a video for this month. I could blame the illness and increased workload but their just excuses. 

Superhero films of 2011 reviews

This year was frankly a great year for my love of Superheroes. In  the cinema there really have been loads of great superhero films and so I've decided to compile them here, look at the good the bad and the ugly with the best coming first.

Captain America.


Best superhero of the year in my opinion! Captain America has always been an interesting character due to his superpowers basically being that he is the perfect human, quicker, faster, stronger, more reactive etc but other than that he doesn't have any powers, he can't make lazer beams from his eyes for example.
However it's quickly brought into the storyline that really Captain America's power is his self-sacrifice, bravery, and spirit.

The characteristics of Captain America aren't just "Woo America" which I was worried it might be but instead appeal to more than national ideas.

In my opinion this was the best of the year.

X men first class
An interesting film about the origins of the X men set against the Cuban missile crisis. It covers the backstories of some very important characters brilliantly and really sets up the different positions of the different groups who come to blows.

There are a few messages in there about being true to yourself, accepting yourself as you are.

All in all it was a great film however I can't really think of too many reasons why!

Thor
The Thor comic book series has always been interesting as it contrasted the mythology of Norse times and science. In this movie the reckless Thor is...er...reckless, stripped of his powers, goes to earth, falls in love, changes and then becomes the responsible Thor [though I suspect he is still a little reckless]. Some great acting with Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Tom Hiddleston as Loki.

The film clearly sets up for the avengers movie coming out next year and so perhaps races through some plot lines that might have been nice in a second movie [for example, why not make Thor's transformation and growing up take longer and be more realistic for that reason.]

There is also the great message of responsibility, giving up what you love for a greater good and self sacrifice including a messianic like resurrection.

Green lantern.
Over all the biggest dissappointment of all the superhero films, mainly due to the awful computer graphics for the suit, in all honesty just having a green lycra suit would have been better.

Despite this the film deals with the ideas of fear and will power [courage?] and the fight for will power to overcome fear. The main protaganist although strong willed goes weaker when he gains superpowers which is an interesting contrast. Ultimately he saves the day [sorry for spoiling it] however there is the question left of what will happen of the "ring made of fear" [sequel!]

You win some you lose some

I love setting challenges.

It's great when people engage in them take part and do something they may never have done. 

However there are two things that aren't great about challenges.

The first is when people don't really take up your challenge. You can have a great idea, set it out in nice format but for some reason people don't take it on. There can be a whole host of reasons and there are certainly ways to get an idea to stick more but for sometimes even good challenges fail.

The second is when you accept a challenge and fail it. It can really hit hard and take the wind out of you. Sometimes you may not want to try another challenge again because the risk of failure can seam too greate and not worth the energy to try it. 

This has happened to me, I have completely failed the writing an E-book in a month challenge. 

To be fair I only decided really to go for it a few nights before and then didn't properly plan when I would actually write anything. Not the best way to start or plan to go on. I did somehow actually manage to start writing and at a fair pace. I really enjoyed the experience. 

However then I came down with a cold. A silly stupid little cold. Well that was it. My energy went and every evening when I wasn't spending hours struggling to plan lessons I was asleep or simply blowing my nose. After about 2 weeks of this I realised how far behind I was...and I left it at that relisation. I took no action as I had other things I needed to do. 

And so now there are under 7 days left in the month and to write some 10,000 words, edit them and publish them [and do my day job] would be neigh on impossible. [unless i find a way to not need sleep]. Am I upset about this? Yes However I'm still glad I accepted the challenge. I would never have thought about writing an e-book and what I needed to do if I hadn't.

I would never have learnt these lessons for next time. And I will now know how much effort is involved and more critically approach such a challenge next time. 

One of the biggest lies we tell ourselves is "I'll probably fail/do a half attempt so why bother?" when really it stops us doing anything. Sure it may be very poor but everyone need to produce poor things to produce something good. 

So you can expect a new challenge from me soon and I do hope you accept it, suggest it to other people and aren't afraid to give it a go, possibly fail, But Possible Succeed! 

Christmas Lights

Christmas lights are starting to pop up all over Dnipropetrovsk as we prepare to light up the city for Novie God. New year.

This was from last year

You see, in Ukraine the order of holidays is slightly different from western countries which celebrate the birth of christ Christmas on the 25th and then New Year on the 1st of January. Here New Year is also on the 1st of January but Christmas is on the 7th of January (following the old calendar).

Matters then become slightly more interesting with Starey Novie God, [old new year]. This is the date of New Year under the old Gregorian calendar.

For me these lights are a great reminder of the coming of the winter holidays, (which is further reinforced by the ever creping date on my pace charts that show Christmas is coming and get's closer ever time I fill in a completed lesson) the joy of seeing family and [girl]friend[s] and most importantly the reminder of the light of the world, who entered it.

That is what these lights originally symbolised and as such the choice to replace the winter pagan festivals with a celebration of Jesus Birth is no accident. Light seams even brighter in the darkness. What a great reminder these are.

p.s. It also means my Years Aims are almost at an end! I guess this means I'll have to come up with some new ones for next year.

Snow flakes

Today was significant, the first snowflakes of the winter.

I say it is significant because the highlight the end of weather that is getting cold and the start of the cold weather.

In all honesty this point was actually reached earlier in the year when the fountains were drained and turned off, or when people started wearing coats all the time. Or even last week when I switched from my summer, thinner coat, to my thicker winter coat. However the presence of Snow really hits home the fact that Winter is here.

Soon the murky slush will cover the floor and make walking to work in anything but walking boots (or the thick lined and rough soled shoes that somehow remain highly stylish that are common here in the Ukraine) near impossible. When we have the little element of snow on the floor it really does pick up on every step that is pressed against it. However, when it really comes down, no blemish can be seen on it's surface.

I love snow. I guess growing up in the UK and until the last 5 years or so of my life, where suddenly we started having Snow storms in the UK too, I had lived with only a smattering of snow flakes that would fall each year. Instead now I am in a country where there will be at least a couple of heavy snow falls a year.

Snow brightens up the dark winter and it is amazing how people can be complaining of the cold one moment and then giddily running around in the snow the next.

Here's to the first snow ball fight of the year.

Teaching observation and life 2

I have already mentioned about how useful it can be to observe other teachers [Christians] as a CELTA teacher [follower of Christ] but the reverse is also true.

Being observed is very useful in our teaching and Christian life.

As a teacher it can be hard to see our faults from within our own perspective. After all during a lesson you can focus on one group and not another, we can be focusing on one problem and not notice another or other factors. When you add in lack of experience there are many reasons why having a set of wiser, more experienced eyes [or just a fellow teacher] over your shoulder can really help.

Peter also felt the benefit of having some peer observation. When a group of Jewish followers can to see him he reverted to the old covenant despite clearly deciding that he was no longer bound by it. Paul was on hand and gave him a professional reminder of his mistake and set him on his way.

Richard Foster, in his book celebration of discipline, talks about the discipline of confession and how this form of observation is a spiritual discipline and one that brings us closer to each other and to God.

It also isn’t just about being observed but having someone tell you what these problems are and encourage you to sort them out.

Who is observing your life? Who are you having professional feedback session with?

2011 Aims: October update

Here it is! the latest instalment of my 2011 aims! You can see the page with the previous months here.

1.I will give at least a 10% tithe in addition to any other giving I will do.
Confession time, I forgot to bring it to church on Sunday! But I have the money set aside I'm going to give it on Sunday. Another thought that I've been struck by recently is that it should be our "First fruits". I get paid in two sets, it would be easier to pray this money from the second lot but God want's the First fruits of my labour. So he's going to get my best. 

2. Making Prayer a stronger habit. 

Prayer has been an interesting issue this month, there have been moments when it has been great and moments when it hasn't. However thankfully the trend at the moment is on the up! I've added to the side bar a resource from the Joshua project to pray for unreached people groups and on a personal level I have started using a memo pad on my tablet to keep track of prayer requests. I have already seen some of them answered!
I'd love to prayer for you. So please leave a comment with a prayer request and let's see God answer them. 

3.Use skype more to chat to people back home/Britain

Again I have been using Skype lots this month, the only downside has been that certain people [aka family] have somehow missed speaking to me this month [with the exception of a couple of minute chat] as such this is my priority for skype! A family catch up!

4.  I will improve as an EFL teacher.

Well my three courses are going well. I prepared a seminar for the Lviv conference [but couldn't visit in the end] I did however get to lead a trial version at the school. I have prepared to run my language awareness course tomorrow. I have been teaching a full work load with no repeat classes and I have even managed to continue reading some of Scott Thornbury's how to teach speaking and teaching unplugged [by Luke Meddings and Scott Thornbury]. PLUS I have made early progress with "A Noobs guide to TEFL" and a few online progressions.
Best of all I've noticed changes in my lessons and I have remembered a few basic principles which have really improved the quality of them. All in all a great month.

5. I will improve my Russian.

Unfortunately I can't say the same here. I have certainly had some great speaking experiences and agreed to start a Russian conversation club with some other teachers but finding time to sit down and study [especially using on line resources when I have so little free time. However the slightly more worrying point is that I have probably spent more concious effort working on Spanish. I guess this is partially down to having Spanish language CD's and reaching a plateau in Russian. Hopefully when this conversation club becomes more regular things will pick up but otherwise I will just have to organise something at the weekends to make the most of my time then.

6. I will write more songs.

As stated before this aim is no longer being pursued. HOWEVER this month I am trying something new to do with creativity which is to write an ebook! More on that at the end of the month. 

7. Host a weekly meal at my flat.

This really has failed this month. I've attended two meals I feel but I haven't really had people round. As such I'm inviting people round this weekend to change that!

8. Regular and higher quality blogging.

This has definitely picked up. The second blog is up and running and I'm quite happy with it so far. I've also had the second largest number of views this month. 

9. I will get involved with some form of charitable work in the Ukraine.

Still searching for a new charity to be involved in. To be honest with everything else on my plate I haven't actively pursued this. 

10. I will make a Public video each month.

I posted my Video challenge 3 which hasn't really been taken on by anyone [and had very few views!] mainly due to lack of publicity. SO this is your time to shine! Let's invite people to contribute meals and to make this challenge take off!

Well that was last month. I'm quite excited about a few things I'm planning for this month but Time management is becoming an increasing issues. At some point I may have to reassess these goals again. In addition there are only two more updates before the year is over and next year will have to start with it's new goals.