I’m a martial artist. Most of my training is in Japanese and South Asian martial arts, but in the fall I started studying Tai Chi as well. My teacher has a phrase that his teacher would say whenever a student was worrying about whether their hand should be turned like this or like that, or […]
This post is a personal reflection and a challenge on the topic of my teacher mantra video #3, which you can watch here or at the bottom of this page. During the last two weeks, I have had two physical and mental crashes—times when, due to poor self-care the previous several days, I spent an […]
Both during my summer travels and in online teacher communities a recent pattern has stood out: anxiety for the new school year, often in spite of—or perhaps because of—extensive prior experience. Others experiencing anxiety are new to the profession or, like you, are boldly trying new ways of teaching. I identify so strongly with this […]
Feeling guilty watching screaming goat videos instead of working? Cut yourself some tons of slack. Haven’t exercised since summer? Cut yourself some tons of slack. No time to write “good enough” replies to the emails stacking up in your inbox? Cut yourself some tons of slack. Did something for no good reason? Cut yourself some […]
March is over, but, like March Madness, #EdMarchSanity continues into April! A simple way to refresh your classes without needing to learn or do a bunch of new stuff is to dust off a task or routine that you haven’t done in a while. This may seem obvious, but I’m amazed when I think of […]
Not half an hour ago, an online student of mine remarked, “Isn’t it amazing how invigorating even the idea of starting a new book is?” The comment confirmed my plan for this second installment of #EdMarchSanity. (Here is the first, featuring eight zero prep activities.) This advice is paradoxical, but, if you want a major […]
Could you use some ZERO PREP routines and activities during this long month? Following French teacher Rebecca Blouwolff’s inspiring lead, I’m putting out several posts in March and beyond with simple ideas for peace, balance, joy, and success. After brainstorming four or five #EdMarchSanity topics, I remembered that this whole blog is basically about learning and […]
February finds many of us in a long, gapless stretch of work that ranges from humdrum to harrowing. New Year’s resolutions to work smarter or spend more time with family or hone a hobby are buried by snowpack, and we retreat into ourselves or suffer panic or just put our heads down to make it to […]
Sometimes I use guided meditation to relax or to help me fall asleep. Because I enjoy it and in order to get a bit more out of life, I usually listen in a language other than English. (My partner recently said to me that the fact that I use even sleep meditation to get more input […]
Responding to requests from Stephen Krashen and others, I wrote a report last fall on my students’ and my experiences with what he calls “non-targeted comprehensible input,” which I sometimes call “interest-targeting input.” The article, “Non-Targeted Comprehensible Input: How it Works for My Students and Me,” appeared in the latest issue of The International Journal of […]