Midsummer Madness - The realities of working at Summer Camp

If I had to choose one word to describe working in a summer camp, it would have to be INTENSE. Don’t get me wrong, my experiences at summer camp have always been overwhelmingly positive, but certainly not easy or relaxing compared to teaching year-round. I worked for 3 consecutive summers at a camp based in Edinburgh, Scotland and one year in Castellon, Spain. In both cases the camps were based at large residential schools, outside of the city and I found the day-to-day structure to be pretty similar. The only notable difference being that...

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Online Teaching: The Digital Nomad

Adventure, new cultures, and our students, these are my favorite parts about being an EFL teacher. The opportunity to meet students from all cultures and engage with them in a way that most people don’t get to is by far what keeps me working in this exciting field. For me, becoming a foreign language teacher was to do just that, move to a foreign country learn about the culture and meet people. I had been a teacher in my own country, but the opportunity for some adventure was the greatest allure. Now, as I have started doing the majority of my teaching online, I often get asked – so can you teach from anywhere? And the short answer is yes. I can teach from anywhere, but there are some things...

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Tools for your online classroom

Keeping students engaged is always important, whether we are working online or working in a traditional classroom. I believe that managing an online classroom requires several tools. In this article I will discuss some of the key points in designing your very own online classroom. Like any other classroom, you need to think about who you will be teaching. If it is children, then you will need to think about bright colours, characters, topics that will interest them. Teenagers, don’t want to be treated like children, you will need to bring a certain level of sophistication to your style, and of course adults who appreciate some serious and some more fun material as well. I am not going to specifically address IT or platforms in this article, for those of you wanting to know more about...

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20 Things New TEFL Teachers Should Know

Let’s begin by saying this is a wonderful career that will take you into new cultures, open your mind to new ways of doing things and new world views that even the adventurous traveler will not experience. You will become part of the school’s and the wider community’s social network if you wish to.  You will affect lives.   I will tell you some hard learnt lessons which I consider to be ‘must dos’ in order to make life great in and out of the classroom in a foreign country.  I have broken down the advice into four sections: before you leave; upon arrival;workplace basics; and a tip for new ESL journeymen...

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