Methodology Pills for Induced Reflection

In my post of April 27, I mentioned Powtoon, as a great presentation tool which added value to the look and feel of your presentations. On the same day, I went and tried it out and created what would become the first of a series of short videos - '5 Steps for Higher Engagement in the Classroom' which I officially launched yesterday under the name -'Methodology Pills for Induced Reflection' via my YouTube channel.

This is a project I feel very motivated to carry on because of the encouragement and feedback received from lots of people and colleagues who saw the first video and thought I should continue making and sharing these little pearls, not of wisdom, but of methodology we sometimes either forget about or simply do not reflect on any more thus missing the benefit of being more aware of how our own beliefs change. You may agree that there is nothing worse than falling into the trap of thinking what we do and have been doing for a long time is just fine and there is no need to think about the whats, the hows and the whys of what we do anymore! If there is anything that keeps me going in this profession and gives me the joy and energy to keep wanting to do a great job every day is the fact that I know WE never stop learning and that looking back does not mean regretting, but taking our teaching and our own learning to the next level. Reflection can be scary sometimes, but it's reinvigorating and edifying most of the time when you are willing to accept there is always room for improvement!

Now the idea behind these videos is that of giving the busy teacher, novice or veteran, a visual recap on the points the picture is about along with a few questions to think about it and usually a task to do. Viewers can stop the video and do the tasks as suggested or simply watch them to get them thinking, reflecting, recalling. More than anything, this is a personal way of revising, revisiting and reflecting about my own beliefs as a teacher and training and as such I do not claim these to be what anyone in ESOL should be doing. After all, there are so many variables in the different contexts we work in that anything prescriptive is destined to fail not to mention the debate on whether we should follow this or that framework. You'd agree that an eclectic approach works best, especially when we stop and think and make informed decisions. In short, I'm happy to share my ideas, classroom experience, training and expertise and that's the whole point. I hope you enjoy them and please do feel free to share back!

Robert