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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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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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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 […]