My First Scrapblog

Looking through Room 18's Learning Journey lovely blog via the September 2009 Blogging Challenge, I spotted the word "Scrapblog" amongst many other e-tools, in the sidebar. I was curious so I looked. The site said "creating a scrapblog is easy". Now, for some reason the word "easy" is always an irresistible force for me, especially if it is connected to new e-tools. My gut instinct told me to give it a go, just for fun. I have seen some amazing scrapblogs on other sites and it seemed as if a lot of technology was involved. Well, the hype lived up to its promise and it was indeed easy to create my very first scrapblog using my own photos. The potential for using Scrapblog for teaching and learning is great and it's a fun way for students to create all manner of projects for classwork or for more individual creative effects.

Rumble in the Valley

I have been very quiet today, pondering on the force of Mother Nature. I seem to have an inherent knack of indirectly foretelling what is to hapen in my life. My previous posting had a fun title "Rumble in the Jungle". I chose this title just because I liked the sound of it. Rumble has these meanings. Last night, indeed, the word rumble took on a more literal and sinister meaning with reference to thunder and here is the story.

A Dark and Stormy Night
It was a dark and stormy night. I had just finished tweeting and was going to settle down with a glass of Trebbiano d'Abruzzo with my beloved, when suddenly, lightening lit up the sky and in the distance the rumble of thunder shattered our quiet relaxation. The rain began to pour down violently. We switched off the power supply from the mains and lit candles (mostly with the image of Padre Pio - they are very good for such emergencies). The rain intensified. It started coming down the chimney in ever increasing worrying dribs and drabs. Outside the cascading torrent of rainfall was deafening. Heaven and earth had opened up. The lightening became more electrifying and illuminating, the thunder ever more cacophonous.


Sinking Hearts
We heard an ominous dripping sound. OMG. What was that?? With trepidation, we went into the back room and yes, the new roof was leaking. Our hearts sank to the floor. How could it be possible?? The new wooden beams had been fitted securely, a waterproof layer had been installed. It should have been watertight. But it wasn't. It was midnight. The drip drip drip was disheartening. There was nothing we could do but hope the violent storm would subside.

The Mop-Up Job
This morning the task of cleaning up began. A whole river of mud had flowed from the upper fields surrounding our house and had chosen to cross our garden. My parsley and cabbage seedlings were totally swamped. Silt had invaded all my major plants. Snails were absolutely everywhere, loving the damp conditions. The outside staircase was a bed of mud. K hosed the mud off while I duly swept the aqueous substance into the yard. Yes, I pondered to myself, this is what living in the countryside, restoring an old farmhouse, entails. It's not always a bed of roses.....

A Comparative Study of Styles
So, today my hubby and I both wrote on the same topic for the first time in our history..... He has his unique, inimitable style. I have my own. We both shared the same experience. You can read K's posting here.

So that's it. A night and day in the life of a TEFL teacher in Italy.

A Special Mention
Kalinago English Blog has just celebrated its first anniversary! I believe it is a fantastic blog and Karenne Sylvester has done an amazing job in inspiring a huge amount of people in so many different ways. I have just posted a comment to Karenne saying "These are the days that should happen to you". Here is a link to One.

Another Special Mention
One of my favourite blogs is "Bits'n'Bobs, Show'n' Tell" I like it, because it is exceptionally well written, always original and intriguing. If you don't know it, I recommend you have a look!
At the moment, Chris Adams has bravely offered to do an improvisation challenge for his future blog posts. He has just successfully completed his second challenge and is on the lookout for some more....

Rumble in the Jungle

The past few days have been spent on and off in front of the computer, happily busy with Twitter, Wikis, Nings, Acronyms, TEFL, PLN, CPD and Blogs, to the unfortunate neglect and detriment of my poor garden. As Voltaire famously said in "Candide" - "Il faut cultiver notre jardin". In English it means "You must look after your garden". Well, this saying has been praying on my mind recently and I have watched the huge mass of verdant vegetation above expand uncontrollably and unrelentingly. It has become a veritable jungle, with lush dense vegetation growing at a rapid pace. In fact, it has become a fertile breeding ground for all manner of creatures. The picture below was taken by K this morning. A romantic couple of Praying Mantises enjoying some R & R on our land, would you believe!


The Root of the Problem


I now have a good picture for use in future Idiomatic lessons. What is Janet holding?? One of the unsolicited bushes from the land was dug up and its amazingly long roots were extracted forcefully. They were almost as tall as myself! Have we now got rid of the deep-rooted problem? I would hope so!
Nature idioms abound here in Abruzzo and today the expresson "Idioms are the salt and pepper of speech" has just come to mind after picking my yellow pepper below.
Please click here for a previous posting on Making Hay while the Sun Shines which contains a selection of Nature Idioms.


An absolutely Divine Intervention
Drinking my post-prandial Espresso infused with the absolutely divine Amaretto, I was most surprised to hear a distant rumble in the jungle. K and I rushed to see what the noise was and.....it was the local farmer Marco, in his tractor, cutting our jungle down, with its enormous blades. We hadn't asked him to do this huge job, so we were thrilled to see the land now actually becoming more visible. It would have taken K and I probably weeks (I am not exaggerating) to mow the "lawn" down with the tools we have, so it is a big relief for us both. It has also preserved K's sanity!! I will ring Marco later to see how we can repay him. I think maybe our land stood out like a sore thumb amongst all the beautiful surrounding countryside and he has taken pity on us for the sake of his aesthetical principles. Boy, am I very happy about this!!

A Penny for his Thoughts?


What is Kelly thinking about? He does look rather deep in thought. He is a very happy dog nowadays, his tail always wagging and wanting to play games all the time. When he first showed up here totally uninvited, he was unkempt and badly injured. He had wounds on his throat which had become abcesses. He was half the weight he should have been. He had a skeletal framework. He was a scavenger. He had matted greasy fur. In fact, he was a total mess. I didn't like or trust Kelly at first as he looked totally rough and any attempt at affection could have turned nasty. We were worried about the girls' reaction. Would he transmit any afflictions? Would he turn on them? We didn't know. However, Kelly persevered with us with quiet determination and we took him in initially because we felt very sorry for him indeed. Quietly but surely, he grew in our affection and the girls love him to bits. He transformed himself to the dog you see above. With love and affection, this is the result. He is now part of the gang and no way, is he going anywhere else. Ever. He is my most faithful companion, following me around with dutiful enthusiasm.

Ad Hoc Style
Well, I've had some fun writing up this post. I really liked the title "Rumble in the Jungle" and this "ad hoc" posting is what I have come up with as a result! Totally unplanned, but it has a connection with events today.

See you on Twitter or on your blog in a mo?? Bye for now...............

My Life in TEFL

Where is TEFL?
"Where exactly is TEFL, my dear?", I was once memorably asked. I was giving a talk entitled "My Life in TEFL" at a local club in Oxford and all the attendees came from different walks of life, none from the TEFL sector, so this question did not really come as a surprise.

Well, TEFL is where my heart has taken me. It's in my blood. It's a universal place. It has no boundaries, no discrimination, no age limit. Everyone has become a part of this unique and all-encompassing world.
September 1979 is a very special month and year for me. I began my teaching life in Madrid, 30 years ago. I cannot believe how fast the time has flown. I have honestly enjoyed every single year of my professional career as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language. I have not wanted to do any other job nor been tempted to give it up at any stage of my life. It has truly been dominated by TEFL and I am very proud to still be here, doing what I love. The past year has been a mixture of studying and teaching, both F2F and online, interspersed with settling down in the beautiful region of Abruzzo.


Inspired by Karenne Sylvester's post called "What's a TEFL teacher?", I would like to go down memory lane and mention 30 reasons why I love TEFL. One reason for each year.

1. I gives me a buzz, even after all these years
2. It keeps me on my toes
3. It's taken me to the most amazing places
4. I have met incredible students, teachers, directors and school staff.
5. I met my hubby -K
   
6. I have had the priviledge of working for the amazing Lake School of English for over 20 years
7. I have learned so much from my peers
8. I have taught angelic 6-year-olds in Fuerteventura
9. I have danced the twist with Sister Carla, a lovely nun from Italy
10. I have taught a 70-year-old Japanese retired businessman in a class of teenagers
11. I have taught 3 Libyan brothers in the same class
12. I have eaten fresh fish caught by my fisherman student in Fuerteventura
13. I was given a lifelong battery as a parting gift from my Thai student- I still have it!
14. I have smashed plates in a taverna after drinking Metaxa with my class in Patras
15. I have created many worksheets connected to slang, my fave topic!
16. I have attended many fascinating conferences
17. I have met fellow TEFLers and educators around the world
18. I have taught FCE to 50 students in one term in Greece
    
19. I have sung Karaoke with my students in Oxford
    
20. I have 3 albums (retrieved today from Box 75) containing photos from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000-. I will treasure these forever- my link to the imminent future past
    
21. I have made life-long friends with some of my students
22. I have taught English as an existential subject to a young Italian university student interested in philosophy (I gemmed up on Nietsche and Sartre for the lessons)
23. I have taught Shakespeare English to Yokko, a Japanese student and now a dear friend. We read through chunks of plays and discussed scenes at great length.
24. I had fun using a Bandar machine back in 1979 (no photocopiers in those days!
25. I have experienced many teaching styles, but realised it's all a circle! Trends come and go and are recycled with time
26. I started my teaching career with "Briam's Complementary English Grammar" an in-house publication which I used in Madrid. It is on my bookshelf now. I am so glad I kept it.
27. I had a Stasi member in each of my classes in Dresden. I was strictly forbidden to discuss politics, the monarchy and religion in my lessons.
28. I smuggled in a copy of "Animal Farm" and "1984" for Uli in the GDR. If caught, I would have been duly expelled from the country. I will never forge the adrenalin rush I experienced when crossingthe East German border at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin.
29. I have dressed up as a cocktail "Pink Flamingo" on one of the many brilliant parties at the Lake School of English.
30. I have been a mentor for newer teachers and loved every minute.

TEFL has been very kind to me. It has been a non-stop teaching and learning fest.


My TEFL Future?
Where will TEFL lead me to next? I don't know. It is an ever evolving world, one which is at times frighteningly fast. I feel I am hanging on, but only just. It takes a lot of determination to remain in one job for most of one's life, but if it's the right choice and you love it, then it makes things much easier.

I would like to say a BIG thank you to everyone who has shared my life in TEFL, everyone who has helped me along the way, especially all my lovely students, all my fantastic co-teachers, all my wonderful bosses, all my kind mentors,all my new online colleagues, wherever you may be. Cheers!!!

Slideshow

Here's a slideshow I have just created on slide.com, using photos I like. I have been meaning to learn how to do Power Point presentations but I got a bit side-tracked by this neat little tool! It's very easy to register and takes seconds to create some very effective slideshows of your pictures. Give it a twirl!