Life is challenging. Being a teacher and living a life is sometimes even more! We all know that, so it should not come as a surprise when we have obstacles we must overcome or decisions that are hard to take. Being a teacher is a never-ending story – we never stop learning and things seem …
I have just returned from the 16th Braz-TESOL International Conference in Caxias do Sul, and I caught myself thinking: Do we really need associations? Nowadays, you can find most of what you need online and for free, schools and teachers offer great content on YouTube, blogs and on their own pages. For instance, if you …
Nina Loback is the Richmond Brazil’s Academic Coordinator for Language Schools. (You can read her complete biodata at the end of this post.) Considering the kind of images from other parts of the world we are bombarded with, we end up seeing stereotypical photos of extreme poverty or wealth mixed with a few natural …
Recentemente, eu vi um desabafo num dos grupos que pertenço onde um dos membros, que é professor de inglês, expressa toda sua insatisfação (com razão) com o ensino de língua inglesa nas escolas. Resumindo o que estava escrito no post, ele questiona a postura das escolas que alegam para os pais que oferecem ensino de …
Collaboration – Often times, we wonder or talk to people who are curious about the reasons why we should collaborate with our colleagues in various roles in the realm of education. Some teachers once asked me why they should help their colleagues improve (doing peer observation or peer teaching, for instance) when their work in …
The teaching of English as a second or foreign language industry has not only grown in numbers all over the world over the past three or four decades, but has developed in different directions, catering for different needs and teaching situations. Looking specifically at the Brazilian market, it is fair to say that we operate …
Some time ago, I wrote about some mistakes teachers make and their negative effects on their students’ progress. Let’s take a look at other examples, shall we? English only from day one This is scary for beginners. When we acquire our mother tongue, we spend a long, silent period, until we are able to …
Many times we teach very challenging groups and draw conclusions to justify unsuccessful classroom management. We end up blaming parents for their kids’ misbehaviour. Had they been firmer with their children and provided them with interpersonal skills knowledge we wouldn’t need to teach them manners in school. Sometimes we label students according to their social …