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Covid blues? Let’s talk about it!
“I think that guys are having a harder time with mental health during the Covid pandemic.”, my student asserted. “You think so? Why?”, I questioned. “We were talking over a glass of wine on Saturday night, and my boyfriend admitted he was finding it tough these days.”, she explained. In the end, our discussion wasn’t […]
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Disruptive English Classes?
I sure hope so! That’s my goal! Since I arrived in Quebec City over 30 years ago, I have taught ESL in a variety of contexts: day camps, private adults classes, the public school system, the private school system, vocation training, tutoring, business classes… and one thing I learned is that people don’t want to […]
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Walk out and walk on.
Departures and new beginnings. Was your year like that? Mine sure was. Some unintentional, some deliberate. But that’s a story for another day. One thing is sure, I’m going into the new year with these words: walk out and walk on. Both actions. Not just one, without the other. In her book, Walk Out and […]
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Are we co-creating yet?
So what did you read this year? I read some amazing books on topics such as leadership, appreciative inquiry, facilitation, coaching, language and communication. As an ESL teacher and leadership and coaching student, the ideas presented in these books fed me all kinds of stimulating thought matter. Thought of the year: co-creation However, if I […]
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The Tale of Or, But ‘n And
One day three words went for a walk. They followed a path through the forest until the trail suddenly came to an end. They had come to a huge rushing river. “What are we going to do?”, they wondered aloud. “Do we swim or walk around?”, asked Or. “Swim?! But I don’t even know […]
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A New Age of Discoveries?
“Yesterday, I felt sad”, confided more than one of my students today. Another student confessed that she had been bedridden with exhaustion and a debilitating sinus infection migraine. I was sick, too, on the weekend and the press conference of Monday announcing stricter public health security measures did nothing to assuage the vague sensation of […]
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Courage for the Bear Hunt
Ever hear this? We’re going on a bear hunt. We’re going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We’re not scared. Uh-oh! Grass! Long, wavy grass! We can’t go over it. We can’t go under it. We’ve got to go through it! Now here’s my current adaptation: We’re going back to school. It’s […]
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Please: UX my school!
Have you ever heard of Tim Brown? I hadn’t either, until I came across a TedTalk he did called Designers Think Big. That motivated me to scoot over to Amazon and purchase his book Change By Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation (Harper Business, NY, 2019). It was a stimulating read to […]
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JUST a teacher?!
I believe… the teacher-student relationship is sacred, based on trust, authenticity, acceptance and patience; each class is a sacred encounter where, when the magic of connection occurs, the miracle and wonder of learning take place; subject matter, the topics of class discussion and exchange, are sacred since they are key in enabling the student to […]
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Living the Dream, the Covid Dream!
“Wow, you’re living the dream!”, I exclaimed. “My student shot back wryly, “Yeah! The Covid Dream!” The exchange took place in a class this morning. I had just seen her husband walk by in the background getting a loaf of bread out of the freezer. My student explained that they were going to have French […]
CLAIRE MARIA FORD 