Musings on Teachers Being Mad!

Teachers should be mad from time to time.

Being mad means …

… being creative, innovative, and inventive

… being a rebel

… acting and thinking outside the box

… breaking the rules occasionally

… coming up with ideas, practices, and approaches that were never tested before

… being brave to try something new that might or might not work

… acting from “What if”

… stepping back and asking oneself “What if there is a simpler and better way to teach?”

… being spontaneous, unplanned, and off-the-cuff

ditching that textbook (1) and creating your own unique teaching resources

… ditching that lesson plan to attend to your students’ questions and needs

… being an artful educator (2)

… being experimental, unorthodox, and unconventional from time to time

… being playful by nurturing a playful learning environment

… taking creative risks

… embracing failures as valuable learning opportunities

… being courageous to be rubbish (3)

… embracing imperfection

… challenging the status quo

putting yourself on the hook (4)

… being fearless, daring, and venturous

Being a MAD teacher means being able to Make A Difference to your students

Being mad is a good thing after all!

Being a mad teacher means being able to Make A Difference (MAD) to your students

References

(1) Ditch That Textbook: Free Your Teaching and Revolutionize Your Classroom, by Matt Miller (2015)

(2) The Artful Educator: Creative, Imaginative and Innovative Approaches to Teaching, by Sue Cowley (2017)

(3) Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, by Greg McKeown (2014)

(4) Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? How to drive your career and create a remarkable future, by Seth Godin (2018)

Photo Credit: Prostock-studio (freepik.com)

7+ Ways to Use …Quotations in the Language Classroom (Teaching Tips)

  1. Display quotes as posters on your classroom wall for motivation, inspiration, and regular exposure to the target language (TL). 
  2. Use quotes as prompts for writing practice. Ask your students to write about “What does it mean to you?” “How can you apply it to your own life?”.
  3. Encourage your students to paraphrase or summarise the quotes into their own words. 
  4. Use quotes as conversation starters for speaking practice (See sample questions in tip #2).
  5. Encourage your students to come up with their own quotes in the TL to be shared for discussion and peer correction.
  6. Make it a habit to embed quotes of authentic sayings, proverbs, and passages in your teaching material design and writing. 
  7. Use quotes as authentic reading material to contextualise specific vocabulary and language items you are planning to teach. 
  8. Use quotes to create a continuous immersive language experience in the classroom by frequently displaying a “Quote of the Week” or “Quote of the Day”.

When Life give you lemons, make lemonade …

Apple Teacher Badge

Following an online professional development course in Apple Education applications and gadgets; I’m delighted to have just earned the #AppleTeacherbadge @AppleEDU .

To earn your badge and test your skills in using Mac or iPad for education, just head to Apple Teacher and register your details. The course included training and quizzes on the following Mac Applications:

  • Mac
  • Pages
  • Keynote
  • Numbers
  • iMovie
  • GarageBand
  • Productivity with Mac
  • Creativity with Mac

Apple Teacher is a free professional learning programme designed to support and celebrate educators using Apple products for teaching and learning. As an educator, you can build skills on iPad and Mac that directly apply to activities with your students, earn recognition for the new things that you learn and be rewarded for the great work you do every day.

Apple Teacher Website