Tuesday, September 25, 2012

My Wish List for the new School Year







     I wish all my ELT colleagues around the world a very successful school year and may all your wishes come true! After reading the article of Robyn Schulman http://www.chicagonow.com/educators-diary/2012/08/my-top-20-wish-list-for-the-new-school-year/ , I have been wondering what possibly could be my own wishes for this new school year! 
   To teach is to reflect. This is how I do define teaching. Reflecting involves evaluating and hence, taking corresponding  measures. We are always questioning and trying to adapt new techniques and ways to teach effectively. Accordingly, I like to share my wish list for this new school year with my colleagues and teachers of English as a foreign language. Though I am afforded only three wishes by the Aladdin lamp genie, but what to do? I have more than three : ) 
          What are my aspirations? What are my dreams? What are my concerns? 
  1- My dearest wish is to see a collaborative entity working in harmony in all the schools regardless of all the differences. Collaboration entails discussing, evaluating, conducting research together and coming up with a plan to follow.
  2-I do hope that teachers/learners , get some appreciation for the work they are doing by rewarding them with training courses somewhere in the world. A trip somewhere boosts a teacher's energy to work more and afford the best s/he can. Such training trips not only break the routine, but open endless possibilities for teachers/learners to work harder and feel they are worthy of such recognition.
  3- Engage teacher/learners more and more in reflective circles about the future of education in their own countries. 
  4-Judge teachers/learners on what they succeed at and not what they fail at. 
  5-Make teachers/ learners enjoy their teaching/ learning to have better and better outcomes. 
  6-Any professional development should be planned according to  a needs analysis. Are we repeating ourselves each year? or are we acting according to questionnaires and needs analysis? Are we reflecting more on classifying our needs from urgent to less urgent? 
     I have just shared my wishes with you and I hope you could add to this list. Still, a worry that need to be handled with careful thought and effective planning. 
    I am more and more concerned about the effectiveness of technology in our classes? Do we have to be more and more technologically-oriented?
    As a matter of fact, we are lacking many resources and we are aware of this digital divide, which is getting each day larger and larger... What does the future hold for us? Brighter days with technology? 
    I hope so! 

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