New Adventures

It's the start of a new term, and with that comes new students and new adventures. What's particularly new for me this term, is that I am teaching solely online. While I generally have a balance of face-to-face and online instruction, this term I will be connecting with my students only in the virtual world.

The students that I have this term are in the online teacher training courses offered through the University of Oregon's eLearning Program, which I feel incredibly fortunate to be a part of. This program is housed in the Department of Linguistics' American English Institute. I'm instructing "Building Teaching Skills through the Interactive Web" (Webskills), as well as "Practical Applications of Listening and Speaking Skills" (PALSS). Both courses are  top-notch and the participants are enthusiastic about the opportunity to participate in them.

The participants are embarking on a new adventure, being in an online course with other English language teachers from all over the world. Their excitement and dedication to these courses makes my job as facilitator a true pleasure. Being able to connect with educators worldwide is always an opportunity I am ready and willing to sieze.

I'm a passionate learner and learning from and with teachers from around the globe is one of my favorite adventures!

Grateful

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” 
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

As I sit here preparing for the presentations that I will be giving next week in Ukraine, having just returned from a week long mountain biking trip to Moab, and upon receiving an invitation to conduct two workshops and a plenary talk in Costa Rica in August, how can I not feel grateful.

This life is filled with opportunity and beauty. When we recognize that, the more that both will come into our lives. Grace us with their presence.

It's the beginning of a new term. Again this term, I will have a balance of face to face and online instruction. I will be leading and teaching Oral Skills 2 again in the Intensive English Program at the American English Institute, University of Oregon. I will also be teaching Practical Applications of Listening and Speaking Skills (PALSS), which is an online course that focuses on simultaneously building participants' speaking and listening skills and also their pedagogical knowledge of teaching these skills. In addition, I am mentoring a colleague in teaching a Project Based Learning (PBL) elective. I take on each of these duties with great pleasure.

The PALSS course has already begun, and I am fortunate to have a diverse group of participants from countries including Brazil, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Latvia, Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Spain, Ecuador, Bahrain, Bolivia, Argentina, Croatia, and Uruguay. I've already begun building our online learning community and have high hopes for a productive term.

My face to face classes begin on Monday, but I will not be there because I will be in Sevastopol presenting at the Ukraine National TESOL conference. This is an opportunity that came to me through one of my online participants in the Webskills course last term. I am fortunate to have two wonderful substitutes filling in for me while I am overseas.

I met with my colleague yesterday regarding the PBL elective, and we had a positive and fruitful meeting. Through my guidance and our collaboration, I feel confident that we will build a strong course.

I work hard and reward myself by playing hard. I recently returned from a mountain biking trip in Moab where I challenged and pushed my physical limits on my bike. It felt so good.

 

Grateful is not strong enough a word to describe how I feel. Fortunate, lucky, blessed. Grateful. I am grateful. This world is good to me.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

“Believe that there's light at the end of the tunnel. Believe that you might be that light for someone else.”~Kobi Yamada

Often times, when we have been through a busy period and are making our way to the end, we will say that we see the light at the end of the tunnel. That time has come. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and so can all of my learners. From my Oral Skills 2 students to the participants in my online courses, it has been a busy 8-9 weeks, and now things are winding down. The light at the end of the tunnel is now within reach.

As I'm nearing the light, I'm feeling great success and happiness, but also a feeling of sadness to be leaving behind such inspiring people. It's truly bittersweet. I have had the immense pleasure to interact with motivated and talented individuals throughout this term. I have learned so much from them and hope that the feeling is mutual. I hope that in some way I have enlightened them, so that they may be the light at the end of someone else's tunnel one day.

My Oral Skills 2 students have accomplished so much. They began the term with little confidence in their speaking abilities and now are able to carry on full length conversations among themselves, and with their native speaking tutors. Working with this level of proficiency is incredibly rewarding. I'm actually able to see progress happen on a day to day basis.

The participants from the PALSS course, who I have weekly Skype conversations with, have also progressed a great deal. These participants are English language teachers from all over the world. They are used to teaching in English, but rarely get the opportunity to express their inner thoughts and feelings in English. I feel so fortunate to share in this experience with them. To hear them freely discuss their personal opinions on real world topics is a pleasure that not many English language professionals get to experience. I am grateful to Skype for making these global connections a reality.

Webskills participants are working on their final projects, which are a culmination of all they have been learning throughout the last 8-9 weeks. They have been busy implementing new technological tools into their teaching practices. I'm sure they are feeling great satisfaction in seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. They sure do deserve it!

In some ways, it feels like our journeys together have lasted a long time and in other ways it seems as if we have only just begun. No matter what, the light is near and we will part ways soon. I hope that when each of them reach that light, they feel proud. They feel accomplished. They are ready to take on new challenges. They are all shining lights in my eyes. Shining lights who are ready to take flight into their next journey.

"For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return." ~ Leonardo da Vinci

Success

To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one’s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived—this is to have succeeded.” 
― Bessie Anderson Stanley, 

In this life, we strive to be successful. Being successful means different things for different people. For me, being successful means feeling proud of my accomplishments, learning from my mistakes, and walking away feeling happy. In many ways, happiness equals success for me.

The past couple of weeks were incredibly busy for me. Throughout my life, I've learned how I handle feelings of being busy, feeling like I'm barely holding on. In the past, I've let those feelings take over. I've let them get the best of me. This time, however, I stood strong in the face of those feelings. I focused on the positive, remembered to breathe, and told myself how good it was going to feel when I accomplished all that I was striving for. My affirmations paid off.


My dear colleague and friend, Cevia, and I just returned from our travels to Mexico City. As a reward for our hard work over the past couple of weeks, and to ensure that we immersed ourselves in local history and culture, one of the first things that we did was visit the Teotihuacan pyramids. We arrived in Mexico City at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday morning and by 1:00 p.m. we were standing on top of an ancient pyramid. Though we were tired and the altitude challenged us, we made it to the top of both pyramids, providing a sense of success; our first feeling of accomplishment in our travels to Mexico City. Although, it's safe to say that boarding our plane and arriving in Mexico was a sense of accomplishment in and of itself.

We traveled to Mexico to present at the ANGLO Forum Conference. One of our presentations was a workshop on Project Based Learning (PBL), a method of teaching that engages students in communicative tasks that they work on in small groups in order to complete a final product. Our other presentation was a demonstration of online tools that can be used to increase English language learners' speaking and listening skills. Preparing for these presentations added extra work to our already hectic schedules. However, the extra work and preparation that we put into these presentations paid off. They were a huge success.

In the PBL workshop, we witnessed a room full of engaged participants working together to complete the tasks we had designed. We received positive feedback and gratitude for the experiences we provided.

The "wow" factor that we received for our demonstration of online speaking and listening tools was thrilling. After the presentation was over, we felt like we were walking on clouds. Feeling the admiration and appreciation from experienced professionals in our field was a true honor.

Persevering throughout the last couple of weeks, reminding myself to stay positive and breathe, not letting the feeling of being too busy overwhelm me, all contributed to the success I felt upon finishing both the presentations, networking with professionals in the English language teaching field, and being able to truly enjoy the experience of another culture. Upon returning, I feel happy. I feel successful. And it feels good.

Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure ~Oprah Winfrey

With an incredibly busy life, sometimes we need to be reminded to breathe. In preparation for my trip to Mexico City to present at the ANGLO Forum Conference, and attending to the extra work it has added to my already busy schedule, I had to stop myself this morning and remember, just breathe.

I'll leave Wednesday night, and be in Mexico City from Thursday morning to Sunday afternoon. While I am there, presenting, sightseeing, networking, and enjoying my time, I will not forget to breathe.

I will breathe in preparation for safe travels. I will breathe before I present to calm my nerves. I will breathe while I present to relax myself. I will breathe after its all over in celebration of my accomplishments.

Staying Focused and Focusing on the Positive

Staying positive in the midst of an extremely busy schedule, can be challenging. The list of things to do never seems to end. Balancing the work load with things that bring great joy outside of work becomes difficult. Learning to stay focused, and focusing on the positive is what gets us through.

During the past week, my schedule became overwhelming. In addition to everything I have going on, I was observed by one of the senior instructors at the AEI. The process of being observed always effects me. I have confidence in my teaching, but when someone is there to judge me, it is difficult not to place stress on myself, not to expect perfection.

The lesson that I planned for the day I got observed was a bit ambitious, and I knew this going into it. I also knew that the vocabulary activity that I had my students doing was potentially going to be too difficult for them. I went in knowing all of this, but still feeling positive about the lesson.

My predictions were right. The lesson was going beautifully for the first 20 minutes; we first reviewed the topic as a class then my students worked in groups of three discussing questions related to the topic in preparation for a mini-lecture that they were going to listen to. I decided to have the students listen before I went over the vocabulary; after they listened one time, they would work in their small groups to try to discover the meanings of the words together.

Well, the listening was challenging, as was the vocabulary, so my confident students, who had been so engaged during their discussions, quickly became overtaken with looks of anxiety. As oppose to modifying the lesson at that point, I felt like I had to stick to the lesson plan that I had given my observer. My students and I worked through the vocabulary activity together and they listened to the mini-lecture two more times, taking notes on specific information. The lesson wasn't a disaster, but I also didn't conduct it as I would have, if there hadn't been an observer in the room.

After the lesson, I reanalyzed everything that I had done in the lesson a million times, obsessing over it. The following morning I filled out my post observation form and was as candid as possible. I knew that was my opportunity to shed light on the lesson from my perspective and from my perspective it was a positive lesson. Even though there were things that I could have done differently, it was also very obvious the positive rapport that I have with my students and their trust in me as a teacher.

During the follow-up meeting with the observer, I was praised for my insightful and honest post observation write up. The observer and I had a productive meeting, where we discussed the aspects of the lesson that I would have done differently, as well as factors in the lesson that may not have been apparent to an outsider. It was an extremely positive meeting and reminded me of the importance of staying positive. Even when it feels like there isn't anything positive to focus on, if we are patient, the positive aspect of most any situation will become apparent.

Outside of the observation, many other things were happening. There were technology enhanced lesson plans, blogs, discussions, and project steps to grade, Skype calls to make, lessons to plan, lessons to teach, an online discussion to moderate, and meetings to attend and conduct. In the midst of it all, I stayed focused, but more importantly I stayed positive. I knew that if I let my attitude become negative, all the things that I had to do were going to become even more challenging. I pushed through all my tasks and duties knowing that I would complete them, knowing that I would succeed in them, knowing that if I stayed positive, it would make it all a whole lot easier.

I think my positive attitude has paid off. This week I was invited to be the key speaker at the national TESOL conference in Ukraine in April. I am incredibly honored to have this invitation extended to me. The likelihood that I will get funded for the conference is strong. I will stay positive that funding will come through and that I will be flying across the globe in a few short months. I will believe that no matter what the outcome, it will be for the best and lead me to exactly where I need to be.

We are in control of our attitudes. It is our choice to be positive or negative, to have a good day or a bad day, to be happy or sad. I choose happy. I choose positive. They seem like the best choices to me!

Turn your face to the sun, and the shadows will fall behind you ~ Maori Proverb

Flowing

There is no rushing a river. When you go there, you go at the pace of the water and that pace ties you into a flow that is older than life on this planet. Acceptance of that pace, even for a day, changes us, reminds us of other rhythms beyond the sound of our own heartbeats. 
- Jeff Rennicke, River Days: Travels on Western Rivers

We really have no choice but to flow through life, just as a river. Rivers flow gently at times, meandering smoothly downstream. Other times, the river is rough; it flows over rocks, under trees, pounds against the banks. Though the water is rough, it's still flowing downstream. It never stops moving.

Our lives are continually moving forward, just as the river. We have to flow with it. When it flows gently, we have to embrace the tranquility. When it gets rough, we have to pay close attention. Be aware of our surroundings, still flowing, but with caution. It's during these times that we will learn the most.

I went kayaking this weekend. I was once again reminded of the beauty and power of the river. I hadn't been kayaking in over two months. The river I went to is one that I have paddled many times before. Thinking that I knew the run and was fully capable of handling anything that came my way, I paddled with complacency. Though the river gets rough, it's a roughness I know, so I didn't stay as aware as I should have. As a result, I made a mistake. The water challenged me, and it won. I don't like losing, but it makes me reflect. What could I have done differently? Why did I get myself in that position? How can I better handle the situation the next time I'm confronted with it?

It is in these moments, the moments that I am challenged the most, that I find the greatest growth. It is within these moments that I am inspired to do better, to be better.

As we flow through life, there will be times when everything is running smoothly. We mustn't be complacent in these times. The water will get rough, and we must be prepared. We must stay aware, keep our eyes open, pay attention. When times get rough, we have to hold on, keep moving forward, and always remember that we're going to come out stronger, smarter, better. Embrace the challenging times just as much as the tranquil times.

As I move through this term, faced with new challenges, I find comfort in knowing how much stronger I will be for it. In this time of challenge, I am aware. I'm aware that I make mistakes and these mistakes make me better. I won't try to rush this time, but embrace it for what it is. Be in the moment of it, accepting the pace of it, and learning from it everyday.