For one reason and another I’m unable to be at IATEFL Brighton this year, but I have really enjoyed following the plenaries online and catching the gist some of the talks via Twitter. Tom Farrell’s plenary “Reflective Practice for Language Teachers” has been a talk that has really made me consider the extent of my own professional reflection on my classes. I will post a link to Tom’s talk once it goes up on the IATEFL Online site.
I teach mainly Business English and like many of my colleagues I know online, we are freelance. There isn’t a staffroom, observed lessons, developmental sessions (although some might think this sounds great). Whilst the obvious freedom that this brings is an advantage, the negative can be that one can feel a little lost at sea on those days when you need support or have a lesson which didn’t quite go to plan. Reflective Practice for some is very literally a personal exercise.
So following the plenary session I mention above, I have been wondering if some of our online community might benefit from a regular teacher development session. This could be in the form of a regular, scheduled slot similar to #eltchat, or it could simply take the form of a dedicated hash-tag on Twitter to which people can post their suggestions, reading suggestions on a questioned topic or offer advice for a troubled teacher. It’s not an easy thing to come out and say that something didn’t got as your planned, or you are not sure what to do with a particular problem. Equally, some people are uneasy about coming online and ‘boasting’ about a great lesson. Do you think such a forum would be of help?
I’ve embedded a poll below to get an overview of your thoughts. Please feel free to use the comments section to give me detail or your further suggestions. They would be very much appreciated.
I know for one, I would greatly value the opportunity to share, help and develop in a focused and dedicated space, rather than simply randomly throwing it out to the interweb!
