Looking forward to summer

At long last the exam frenzy is over. The alphabet soup of FCE/CPE/CAE/ECCE and ECPE that we have every year has come to an end. My students have taken their exams all we can do is simply wait for the results over the summer. I was thinking about what to do over the next few months there are so many things I wanted to achieved over the winter but didn't have didn't have time. So here is my summer wish list. If I finish just one of them I'll be happy;

- Write a movie script. I know it's a crazy idea but going around the city photographing various weird and spooky places an idea came to mind which I'd love to develop.

- Learn how to Moodle. I'd love to develop a place where all my private students could come together and share ideas.

- Learn more about journalism. I've been writing stuff for NowPublic.com for a while and I'd like to do it better.

- Put on my own underground photography exhibition. I know I said I would a few months back but then I ran into all kinds of practical problems which meant I put the idea on the back burner.

- Write a Wikispace guide on how to use blogs to promote political causes and promote your particular cause. The idea came when somebody asked me for my help to let people know about a ecological disaster near Mount Olympus.

- Come up with some more weird and wonderful teaching ideas. It's been a while since I last posted stuff. Now that I have some time to think rather than act I hope to come up with some more interesting lesson plans.

Woman in a window

Woman in window, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

If you look carefully, you'll see a woman looking out of the window in this photograph. Influenced by Don McCullin's work I tried to capture an idea of modern day working class life in England. This is what made me, what I grew up in and for better or worse seems to have remained stubbornly familiar, no matter how many initals I put after my name.

The teaching year is almost over

The exam season is almost over. The English learning alphabet soup of CPE, FCE, ECCE etc, has once again taken place and I wish my students the best of luck with their results. They deserve to pass as they have worked hard to prepare. It has been a long, gruelling year for everyone and I'm looking forward to taking time off.

Unfortunately, my students don't have such a luxury as they are embarking on other exams at either school or university. June is going to tough considering their work load.

As the more astute of you have noticed my EFL/ESL content has dropped off recently, reflecting both the need to concentrate on more mundane skills such as revision and the fact that I've been been having lots of fun re-discovering my love of photography. Don't worry, once I've recharged my batteries I'm sure that many classroom ideas will follow. Sometimes you have to take a break in order to retain your love of teaching.