I bought a book

If you have seen my aims for the year you will know that one of them is to only buy 10 new things this year. (there are some exemptions such as disposable items and replacing old things which make it easier) and as such  I have only just bought my first new item.

52 by the round.

It is a book of subversive ideas for English language teaching.

I have written a review on my other blog and will do a give away very soon as part of my post 500 posts celebration!

My Aims for 2012

In all honesty I have had a hard time pinning down my Aims for this year, This isn't because I haven't know what I've wanted to do in fact there have been some goals that I have been certain that I wanted to do. Unfortunately I fell in to the trap of planning.

It is without doubt easier to plan what you should do than to start doing it. In fact the longer you plan the better excuse you have for it not happening "well the plans aren't ready yet."

However:

 A good plan violently executed is better than the perfect plan.

Inspired by a post this morning which has helped refine my thinking I decided to drop some of my many many aims and instead focus on a few constant aim. A few mile posts for the year and also to have an experimental aim each month. Something to give a go at.

Thus I'll be open to any options during the year and yet committed to the long haul too.

So without further ado here are my mileposts.

1. To write an ebook 
2. To write another album of 12 songs, 1 a month
3. Complete a half marathon in the Summer
4. Change job
5. To buy only 10 new things this year*

*this doesn't include replacing broken things, or expendables such as food or toiletries. It is luxury things such as a new guitar/computer etc all the things I don't need but want. In some ways the exceptions should make this very easy, however I like the number 10

These are my long term goals.
Each month I will:

1. Improve my Russian via completing my Russian course book, attending a Russian discussion club once a week and spending an hour studying a week.
2. Improve my Teaching Via completing my two IH courses, continuing blogging and the 30 goals challenges.
3. Improve my writing via continuing the two blogs, writing an ebook on teaching dyslexic students English as a foreign language. 
4. Write 2 songs a month
5. Follow my Asics training schedule. [so I can complete my half marathon aim]
6. Fast 1 a week [starting with a once a month, then twice etc]
7. Complete daily bible in a year readings via YouVersion. 
8. Host a party [and find a reason for hosting a party.]
9. [This space is open in case there is a goal I wish to add later. Perhaps an experimental goal.

So finally all I have is my experiment for the month.

I will meditate [Using some guidelines set out in celebration of disciplines] each morning. 


So in total I have 9 goals for each month (one changing each month) and some long term achievements to aim for.

note: I will add more details on how I will complete my goals soon. 

2011 aims: September update

Well the end of another month and another update on my Aims for 2011 and a reminder that I've been in the Ukraine for over a month!

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

This year there has been a change In our payment method, meaning we now get half our salary in advance and the rest later. As such this has greatly helped with giving as it's much easier to give 10% of a smaller amount.

2. Making Prayer a stronger habit. 

I have definitely noticed an increase in my prayer life which has been great and exciting. However this prayer has been quite self centered so the next step is to increase my prayer for other people. One thing I am going to do for this is to put prayer request and thoughts about the ukraine/dnipro/other countries and people. If you would like me to put something up about you then send me a message.

3.Use skype more to chat to people back home/Britain
Again there has been a definitely increase due to my girlfriend back in the UK. Having said that I have also been able to chat to my brother who has just gone to university and my very good friend ollie (who has finally got round to getting skype!)

4.  I will improve as an EFL teacher.

I am now well underway of my two IH courses and I can see how the reading I did over the summer has helped me grow. In addition I have already published two posts on my new tefl blog and I have a couple of more thoughts on posts to do. I've also added some new TEFL blogs to my personal reading list. I'll post an article linking some of them soon.

5. I will improve my Russian.

Russian has been a real struggle recently, I've had a couple of incidents which have dented ny confidence recently and I have slacked off studying recently. This is mainly due to the fact that I have reached a point where it's become a lot harder. Still I'm determined to push through. I have thus set aside 30 mins at the start of the day to study.

6. I will write more songs.
[this aim is no longer being pursued]

7. Host a weekly meal at my flat.

I have once again started to host meals at my flat with the first of the year happening last week. I hope to do some more soon, I am just weighing up when is best to do them this year, during the week or weekend?

8. Regular and higher quality blogging.

This month I had my third highest amount of page views ever, I set up a second blog and, despite spending a couple of weeks at the start not really blogging, I published 13 posts [there was a period of over a week with no posts!] in addition I redesigned the blog. Came up with some new ideas for series to do, improved the format of my blog posts and have updated the recommend on facebook button and follow on twitter button [why not try them out on the left!]

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

I'm afraid that this goal has been on hold whilst I look at whether I can go back to the orphanage or not. If I can't then I'll have to look at doing something else.

10. I will make a Public video each month.
No video as of yet. I had a few difficulties with having no USB cable to connect the camera...then I discovered that I could use another one! As such the new challenge video should be coming out very soon.

So that's this month!

Overall some pretty good progress but still some areas to improve upon and keep up the effort in. If you have any suggestions for how I can keep my aims please write them.

Back in Dnipro

After a week of training over in Donetsk I have finally returned to Dnipro and on Monday I shall start teaching my new classes for this year.

It should be an interesting year with a lot of new groups mainly focusing on the lower levels and kids. I also have agreed to do two international house courses of business English and 1-2-1. Although i am sure these will help me develop as a teacher, as of yet I have no business or 1-2-1 classes!

Another change will be the new shift system. This year instead of starting almost everyday in the morning and finishing in the evening everyday I will instead only have afternoon and evening classes. This should allow for regular planning in the mornings and also a regular period where I can contact back home. This is also due to the fact that the change in timetable means lessons will no longer end so late A very welcome change!

It looks like I shall be doing some more filming with English club tv but the details still need to be arranged with them and I want to make sure that teaching is still my number one priority rather than childhood tv star dreams.

Other than that it is all very safe and familiar here. There have been some bits of good and bad news with some teachers having changed positions/cities but they all seam to be steps forward for them and so I am glad, even if it does mean the end of Spanish lessons and salsa partners!

I promise that the next post won't just be a general update and I'll press on with setting up a tefl blog in the mean time please feel free to suggest a name for the new blog bellow. Best suggestion will be rewarded with credit in the blog title and much love.

A couple of new Blogging and teaching gadgets...I mean tools

I don't often write blogs like this but in an attempt to get back in to the habit of blogging I'm going to tell you about two new additions I have to help with blogging this coming year in the Ukraine. [not just blogging mind]

Before showing you them I should probably also confess...I love gadgets. It's something I've noticed across my family and I usually try to pass off one or other member as being worse than me but really I do love them. Often it is the most useless ones that seam the most appealing for some reason (possible due to the fact that all gadgets do a job that another object can do better/with added internet updates). I think I have improved in recent years over the desire to own such objects though my latest purchase and present would like to suggest otherwise.

The first is a new Camera! Ever since my last one was stolen I had wanted a new one so I could take photos to sow people what the Ukraine is like. From a blogging point of view it would also mean that I can put a lot more self made photos on for post rather than prowl sources for them. This was actually a present for my birthday and is a Canon Ixus 117hs. It is a 12 megapixel camera which can take videos as well as pictures. It has a very impressive auto mode as well as an functions option that includes such things as colour accent [where all the colours except one are blanked out] toy camera and super vivid [my favourites so far]. Here are some samples

The second is an HP Touchpad! If you haven't heard the story of the HP touchpad hewlit packard [HP] made a tablet computer based on it' WebOS operating system. No other company ran Web OS on it's products and as such there was a limited number of App's and app producers. On top of that it has several less impressive technical features than the Ipad2 or several android based tablets yet cost the same price. As such it flopped. So HP did a firesale slashing the pice of the models to a low of £89.99 [from £400]. I had been considering a Tablet for use as an E-reader and several other classroom functions and so when I saw this price drop I pounced!

So far I've been very impressed with the keyboard and several apps within it [including the skype/google messenger program] and I'm looking forward to using it for writing on the go, reading books, looking up recipes...etc

So these are two of my new gadget's to use for blogging/teaching and various other purposes.

A holiday, A job and A wedding

It's been a while since I blogged and that's for very good reason.

Firstly I returned home from the Ukraine and had a very hectic time of unpacking, seeing as many people as I could, taking the dog for a walk and to a small extent readjusting to being back in England. Despite some of my fear about how this might be a hard process, based on my last trip back. This actually seamed to be very unfounded and I quickly settled back into adjusted routines and a variation on previous activities.

Then last weekend I travelled up to Oxford to start teaching at a summer school there. The first week was certainly an experience and quite a jump into the deep end. Thankfully I made it through the other side and for the first few days I didn't have internet access. On Tuesday I actually did arrange internet for my room there and started to use it but my duties had meant that I didn't have time to actually put up a blog.

The teaching work load isn't anything shocking and compared to some of the weeks we have had in Dnipro I didn't feel under too much stress to prepare all my lessons. However it is the other duties that can really put the pressure on. There was one day where I had a project lesson in the afternoon and then night duties in the Evening. I was at one point wondering where I would fine time to prepare my lessons for the next day but I did indeed find the time and manage to get everything done for the next day.

Today I had the pleasure of attending Sophie B...sorry Sophie Holland's wedding! From a very selfish point of view, being able to come home, see friends (including ones who had been away last week), and play guitar and sing in a band made for an amazing day. However the whole event was wonderful and I certainly hope that the bride and groom enjoyed everything.

I'm actually currently on the Oxford Tube heading back to Oxford and I am not sure when I will find a chance to blog again. I might try sending one from my phone tomorrow if I find myself with time to spare on my coach trip [I'm taking some students into London!!!! Eeeek]

Till next time.

TEFL: "How regular are teaching observations?"

"How regular are teaching observations?"

This was a search term that I saw people had landed on my blog from and thought would be good inspiration for a blog post!

When I was a new teacher [from here on it to be refered to as a "noob"] I used to have an observation in every level twice a month too see how I was settling in. In addition to this I had feedback on the lessons, help planning the next lesson to work on the action points from the last lesson and I shared a class with another teacher so I could observe what techniques she used with them...and then nick them for myself!


Within two months this retreated to one observation each month for each level as this was school policy [to show students/corporate clients that we were maintaining a high level of teacher training and to actually maintain a high level of teacher training.) At times this can feel like a lot when you have a week of solid observations in every Level.

During the course of the year, with the school gaining new corporate clients and some teachers leaving observations decreased so that all the lessons could be taught. However this was a temporary change and has returned to normal now.

This is of course half the story, there are also the observations of other teachers that we make. To be honest appart from the class that I shared with another teacher I didn't have the largest ammount of opportunities to observe my peers/superiors, teaching. Having said this I did get to observe other teachers as part of the IH young learners course that I completed and on a couple of other occasions during the year.

If you are considering going into teaching it is best to check the schools individual policy regarding observations as it can be very different within each school but I hope that has helped to shed some light on the situation for you.

If any other teachers read this then please do leave your comments bellow about how often you were/are observed. thanks

The final stretch

With the arrival of June I now face my final month in the Ukraine this year and the end of my first year as a Teach of English as a Foreign Language and what a year it has been!

I can still remember arriving in the Ukraine with a limited bag of Russian words and a CELTA certificate to my name. The train ride was uncomfortable and hot, the food took some getting use to and I didn't sleep at all. The induction week was over in a blur and by the end of the first week I had already taught more than I had before hand!

4 months later and I was preparing to return to the UK and recovering from a spell of homesickness. Coming home reminded me how much I had missed everyone in the UK but I soon realised how much I was looking forward to being immersed in a different culture again. Despite this I returned to the Ukraine feeling quite nervous and worried about what the next 5 months would be like.

As soon as I landed everything became fine and the confidence of managing to buy a train ticket on my own gave me the lift I need as soon as I was back.

Before I knew it I had reached the point of having completed more of my contract than I had left to go! Suddenly I realised how long I had been in the Ukraine, How much I had learnt, How much I had improved [I no longer received constant feedback telling me that I needed to grade my language] and how actually the idea of leaving the Ukraine wasn't that appealing.

Soon after this I returned home for my friends wedding! it was a wonderful few days, yet extremely tiring! As I wondered down the high street things seamed different, the world I had left behind had moved on and I had too. Shops had opened and closes, friends had got together and broken up and I felt uneasy. It had passed by the time I was heading back but It still struck me as odd.

A few weeks later and I had the conversation. I wanted to stay and they school wanted me to stay too.

And so it was agreed. Another year in the Ukraine, a chance to finish all I wanted here and to do more than I had thought about.

More months passed with highs and lows, reflections and rants, developing friendship and letting others slide and before I knew it the second conference was coming up and I decided to speak there! In the lead up to the conference I had several more observations which confirmed how I felt, that I had continued to grow as a teacher here. Not only that but I had also filmed a Pilot episode for English club TV!

And now I'm here! 1 month left before heading back to the UK, teaching at a summer school in Oxford and trying to see people whilst I am back home.

If I could offer some advice for people thinking of teaching/living abroad I think I'd encourage them to stick it out, of course it is hard at times but once the night returns to day the sun seams to be brighter than the last time and your confidence builds that you can get through it each time. I'd also encourage people to try and meet as many local people as you can. It's amazing what a difference just a little chat in English or broken Russian can do for my mood. As a teaching point I'd encourage people to reflect on the way they are learning the language in that country. It has been so useful for me to come here with very limited Russian and to be able to reflect how I have increased my own communicative abilities. My final point with be establish a routine, enjoy it...and break it! I firmly believe that finding a regular rhythm is important as well as ensuring that you step out of sync with your rhythm too.

Other than that I'm still learning and growing and hopefully I'll be able to look back on next year and offer better insights.

Some exciting news: summer and next year

This week I have had been very busy making arrangement for the future. By that I am reffering to both the summer and next year.

On Wednesday evening I had an interview with a summer school and have now been offered a job for the summer working in Oxford. It will certainly be very busy during this time there [though what is new with that] and it isn't for the whole summer so I WILL return to sunny New Malden as well.

The other big news is that I have talked with the Director of the school about next year and So I am now planning on returning to the Ukraine next year. Obviously the downside of this means at least another year 2000+ miles away from Family and Friends. However I am glad to have some more clarity about what will happen in the future so I can pursue some longer term goals here.

Of course if you would like to visit the Ukraine [or Oxford whilst I am there] then please do leave a comment bellow.

Teaching methodology in the Church

whilst I was on my Gap year I helped out in a youth group on Sunday mornings with a group of women from the local areas. During one of the meetings an issue was brought up in the continued running of the Sunday schools as we looked at where to have them and what ages to have them for. This issue was that the fellow leaders were worried about getting "fed" at church.

Looking at the positives of this statement it shows that these women really care about what spiritual input they are getting, after all most of them ran the Sunday School every Sunday...and when they didn't, they were away. The negative comment that could come would be towards those who aren't involved in any service in a church [especially one that might involved not being in a sermon] and use not being fed as the reason. In these cases the statement becomes an excuse for not serving. 

Why do I mention this, well for one it's an interesting diversion/lead into the topic of teaching within the church, it also allows me to mention my friends blog piece about taking responsibility for being "fed" but most importantly to mention that desiring God, desiring teaching isn't a bad thing [which can come across sometimes].

In the world of English language teaching many changes have taken place in the methodology of how lessons are taught. In the past there was a formal sitting down, reading and translating a text approach with very little focus on students actually being able to use the language or communicate but instead knowing the rules of the language and as such being able to answer questions about the text. 

If we look at teaching within the church we can see similar comparisons, a text is read, a teacher then instructs the students on new or unfamiliar words and explains the translation. the students sit there and perhaps write notes with no certainty that they are listening or absorbing the information. The students leave the lesson, head home and probably don't use this knowledge till the next lesson, at which point the process is repeated. 

Some students love the methodology. They learn the rules and can recite them at will [or command of the teacher] they study at home all the time, they translate text after text and can't understand why other students don't enjoy or find the lessons engaging. 

Others hate the methodology, they don't engage, although they want to learn the language they just can't manage to put up with the lessons and so they give up. Stop attending the lessons and go away with a small knowledge of the language never to expand it. 

[maybe you can see some similarities, if not then either your church is using a varied teaching approach or maybe you find the methodology engaging]

So what are the key characteristics of EFL communicative methodology used today and how can we translate them into the church.[In no particular order]

1. Real life situations

2. Using audio, visual And Kinaesthetic techniques to focus on a holistic learning approach

3. Students don't just study but use the target language in class.

4. Repetition of material

5. Allowing participation from all students to maximise practice.
6. Inductive learning not Deductive learning [a possible example]

[feel free to point out other essential element that shall be added to the list.]

And so these are the idea's I shall start to explore with relation to teaching in the church in the coming week with the aim of a post every Monday addressing one of these idea. Please feel free to suggest idea's, to critique the article/idea, comment etc [as long as it's not a personal attack].

A General update 30/09/2010

Well it's been a while since I last blogged and for good reason, the work days have definitely become more hectic and require much more forward planning. Most days I now have a morning lesson and then evening/afternoon lessons and as such have very little time to plan lessons during the day (meaning that Friday and a bit of Saturday are becoming necessary lesson planning time). When the lack of internet at the flat is factored in then the hour between lessons on Thursday morning and regular Sunday mid afternoon trip  the coffee shop are the only chance I can get. The plus side is that I am definitely getting quicker at planning lesson and some of my recent assessments have brought up some very good feedback. I have a good level of being fun but firm with teenagers (I introduced them to Bombay bicycle club yesterday) and my ability to adapt at a moments notice was again brought up when I forgot a listening exercise for a business lesson.

We have managed to discover a very local and very realistic English паб that actually has darts, table football, shows football on the tv and does and English breakfast and fish and chips. although I am yet to sample these culinary delights I am hoping they will both be culinary and delightful. We first visited it on Friday when one of the other teachers and I went to watch the basketball with a couple of my pre-int students (one of whom worked at the basketball arena) Dniproazot played pretty well, however Kyiv were just a much better team.

During the rest of the weekend the other international teachers spent time introducing our newest member (neil) to Dnipro including going to the air rifle range where I managed to get the highest score (somehow) and sampling the wonders that are sharoma (a sort of kebab with chips inside that is worryingly addictive). On Monday evening I invited several of the other teachers around and we all had a very large risotto (though not quite large enough for the number of teachers that were present unfortunately). This was my attempt at bringing and element of "the well" to Dnipro and was gratefully received even if it wasn't exactly the same.

the only other news since Monday is that I have successfully managed to send a video message back to someone in England (took ages to shrink the video down to a suitable size) and I have also received my first item of post from the uk (thank you Zoe Allen). now I must dash for my next lesson.

This is Agent Wilson signing off.

A revealing lesson

On Wednesday I was teaching my pre-intermediate teenagers and we were looking at hobbies and interests. One of the more interesting questions was "does anyone have a hobby that could become a profession, after all if they say yes to this then it would show that they must really be interested in this hobby and probably spend a fair bit of time doing this activity. One student revealed they were a keen swimmer and another that she was a strong dancer. When I asked what type of dancing she was interested in I at first heard "street dancing" assuming she meant urban type dancing I was quite surprised out of all the girls in my class (all around 15-17) I would have guessed that if this student was into dancing it would be more traditional dancing. However the rest of my students had switched into Russian and were clearly asking a lot of questions and it was at this point I discovered  that actually she hadn't said street dancing...but strip dancing.
You never know what you will find out about your students

Words on a whiteboard

I noticed something this evening whilst teaching that actually filled me with a real sense of pride and joy. I looked at my handwriting on the board (for a word I had been asked to spell) and I knew it was the right spelling, it was legible and I had helped a student progress in their knowledge of English.

Why was this such an achievement for me a now professional English as a foreign language teacher? Well I am Dyslexic and have had major problems with spelling and handwriting for a long time. I was certainly a slow starter at primary school, not helped by my glue ear and in ability to hear what people said for many months at school. After being issued with handwriting classes whilst at primary school and then being given English as a foreign language lessons before school whilst I was at secondary school (with a load of Korean students) I managed to not only achieve a C in my English Language GCSE, but then continue to take essay based subjects right up to degree level.

Admittedly my handwriting was (and can still be) shocking and I do have to use google chrome as my browser due to its in built spell checker, but I have come a long way since the days of my year 6 teacher being determined to insure that I could use paragraphs by the time I left primary school (I could, I subsequently immediately forgot this vital information when I went to secondary school). This evening I realised how far I had come in actually being able to teach English and I was so thankful for all the people who have helped me to achieve this.

Anyway, I just had another set of lessons and I can safety say they have definitely become much easier to plan and deliver, I am much more able to anticipate problems that will arise and to help students deal with them. Sometimes things don't go to plan but it doesn't seam to bother me as much any more. It really feels great to know that I can actually do this, despite what nature may have set against me. I thank God for all the people who have helped me over the years and for his assistance during all problems I have faced.

It's Business time!

Not related to the rest of the post:

Yesterday I taught my first business English class (I won't mention the companies name etc just in case there might be an issue with that.) which means that I have now taught Kids, Teens, Adults and Buisness lesson (all I need is for some babies and one-to-one classes and I will have a complete set (compared to the length of time it took me to get a complete set in pokemon, including mew, I almost feel disappointed at it's brevity.) The lesson only latest one hour but I will have the group three morning a week meaning we should cover more material each week. 

It was a very different experience from all the other classes I have taught so far for a wide variety of reason. It was off site in the company, which meant I had the pleasure experience of catching the tram in the morning (it is a very good thing that there is a universal 1 UAH [approximately 10p]) charge for the tram rather than having to say where I wanted to go and then get the right amount from the ticket person on the tram.) Then there was the time of day of the lesson...it was actually during the day rather than at night as all my other lessons have been (apart from my kids classes at 3:00. The material was also very company specific with the first session being all about vocab to describe companies. Finally having all your students turn up in very smart clothes was a quiet different experience too. 

After this lesson I was practically forced to take the day off due to my cold (that's right a cold) I'm not sure if I looked horrible or they were worried about me infecting everyone else but anyway I was sent home to enjoy the wonders of Ukrainian television. On the plus side I did get to watch the film Gataca, which I had borrowed from the school, It was definitely provocative on the subject of embryology and genetics. I also loved the quote from Jude Laws character "I just gave you my body, you gave me your dreams."

Today I yet again have my 3 adult pre-intermediate groups (meaning I will finish teaching at 9:20). Luckily the subject matter I am teaching is very similar to what I had already taught my teenager pre-intermediate group. As such my prep time has been ridiculously short and I have time to prep for my business class tomorrow morning.

The school may also be moving premises this weekend to a more central location in the town. The obvious advantages of it being larger, in a more prestigious area and it is located right above TGI fridays an Italian restaurant and a Sushi bar (which will make lessons ending at 9:20 much more acceptable when there is hot food straight down stairs!) 

Goodbye UK

I've set this to hopefully be delayed until I have left for the Ukraine and will as such be my last blog from the UK for some time. For those of you who don't know I have a contract with International House DNK (based in Dnipropetrovsk and Donestk) to teach English as a foreign language for the next 10 months.




As you can imagine I am very excited about this and nervous at the same time, the fact that this is my first teaching post and that I will be developing a language (Russian) which my fluency is pretty poor at still (and let's not even discuss pronunciation!)which means this is less a step out of my comfort zone into the unknown and more a leap from a third story building.

Luckily International House have in place a lot of assistance for teachers coming out to their country to help them with the language and culture changes as well as helping to develop their capabilities as teachers.

My plane departs tomorrow (today when you read this) the 23rd of August at 12:45 and will arrive 17:50 in Kyiv (Ukraine time...which is two hours ahead). After this I'll have about 6 hours in Kyiv before heading off on the sleeper train down to Dnipropetrosk. This short train journey of 6 hours will take me to the city where (baring any last minute changes) I shall be living in for the next 10 months (give or take a few days back at Christmas.

Once in Dnipro (for short) I shall have half a day before Induction week begins and then after that teaching starts straight away. It should be a hectic first few weeks adjusting to full time working and I'm not certain when I will be getting internet access out there so it could be a while before I actually get to write another blog post or anything. However I do want to keep writing and keep you up to date with everything Ukrainian.

To get me into the mood for moving to the Ukraine I have been watching Everything is Illuminate, A film set in the Ukriane and staring Elija Wood and Eugene Hutz the front man from Goglo Bordello. It is a great film about a Jewish man who goes back to the village where his grandfather use to live. What I did find quite encouraging was that I didn't find reading cyrilic as hard as I expected I highly recommend seeing it as it is a really great film.



I will post picture, video's etc as soon as I can about everything that is going on so I hope you will enjoy learning a bit about the Ukraine and everything I get up to. Anyway I must go and finish packing now, thank you for reading.