Reach to Teach Blog Carnival: February 2015

This month I'm hosting the Reach To Teach Teach Abroad Blog Carnival, a monthly series that focuses on providing helpful tips and advice to ESL teachers around the globe. This month's topic is: "At what moment did you finally start to feel like you were at "home" during your time living abroad?"

Check out the responses from teachers around the world. If you’d like to contribute to next month’s Blog Carnival, please get in touch with Dean at dean@reachtoteachrecruiting.com, and he'll let you know how you can start participating!

Abigail Nedeau-Owen

Link: February 2015 Reach to Teach Blog Carnival: Feeling at Home when Abroad

Description: Four main, personal moments of feeling at home when living and teaching English in South Korea and lots of reminiscing about those good time.

Bio: Abigail prefers walking to motorized vehicles and likes the idea of slow travel, getting to know a place by building up a routine that absorbs the new culture. Her interests include illustration, editing (film and writing), reviews, boston terriers, artist books, and iPhonography. You can find her blog at Bodging for Apples II.

Dean Barnes  

Link:  February 2015 Reach to Teach Blog Carnival: Feeling at Home While Abroad

Description: I knew from the beginning that it wasn't going to be an easy year living abroad and one of the biggest challenges was going to be homesickness. But it was something that I just knew that I not only wanted, but needed to do for myself.

Bio: My name is Dean, I have been traveling for around 4 years now with a small stint back in my home country. I’m from the UK and I began my teaching career on the island of Bali. I then made the move to Taiwan where I currently reside. Here I have the joy to fulfill my passion for writing by providing ESL/travel related articles to the Reach To Teach website.

Holly Beddome

Link:  February 2015 Reach to Teach Blog Carnival: At Home Around the World

Description: One of the biggest challenges long-term travelers might face is the struggle to feel at home in a new city or country. Throw in a new language, alphabet, culture and workplace environment and the move to teach English in Korea can seem rather daunting! Feeling like I'd found 'home' didn't occur in one eureka moment, but rather over a process of several months. Now, I'm happy to call Korea home, and encourage others to come see what makes this country so unique for themselves!

Bio: Holly was bitten by the travel bug in her early teens and has long since rejected the idea of spending her entire life in Canada! She loves to read good books, flail about on the dance floor, and form new friendships. She documents cityscapes and the natural world around her through the lens of a camera. Having volunteered in Honduras, backpacked around Southeast Asia and studied in Australia in the past, she now calls Seoul home for the next year. Her plans: eat ALL of the kimchi, hike ALL of the mountains, form incredible memories and friendships, and hopefully have a positive impact on her students’ lives!  

Jamie Phillips    

Link: February 2015 Reach to Teach Blog Carnival: Existential Migration  

Description: In India, I explored the art of doing nothing, of sitting in silence and plumbing the space between breaths. And I discovered a new sense of home, stronger than any other, that was curled up within me and accessible any time, anywhere. I started to feel at home in sections of time and shades of emotion.  

Bio: A few years ago, I packed up, sold, redistributed all of my non-essential belongings, crammed my life into a backpack and wandered aimlessly into the world. I've backpacked South America, work-holidayed in Australia, travelled South East Asia with my mom, and, most recently, I became a yoga teacher in India. I blog about my (mis)adventures at The Accidental Nomad. I am currently navigating ex-pat life in Oxford, UK.  

Liane Nichols

Link:  February 2015 Reach to Teach Blog Carnival  

Description: During my travels, I never really got that homesick feeling, but my most "At-Home" feeling came when I moved to Thailand. Between the welcoming people and the irresistible food, Thailand was home for me since day one. Here's a brief story of what I loved most in Thailand.  

Bio: Liane is a Texas high school Geography teacher, travel writer, and former foreign English teacher. She graduated from Texas State University in 2010 with a B.A in International Relations. During college, Liane interned with the U.S. Department of State - Foreign Service Institute, and volunteered as President of the International Studies Club and Sigma Iota Rho Honors Fraternity. Since then, she has been fulfilling her dream of traveling the world by teaching English in Thailand, Georgia, and the Czech Republic. Follow her experiences by visiting her blog at Nichols Away.

Neysha Bauer 

Link: February 2015 Reach to Teach Blog Carnival: The Day I Ate All My Kimchi

Description: Everything just seemed to fall into place that day.

Bio: Neysha is the creator of Travelsuras.com, a travel diary fusing together the most awkward moments of living abroad and literary snapshots of the people and places that influence everyday expat life. In August 2014 she decided to pack her bags and move to Daegu, South Korea where she currently teaches youngster all about Spanish culture and how to dance Flamenco (poorly). As an amateur photographer, or freezer of time, she’s always on the lookout for the next thing to Instagram. When she’s not sipping green tea and writing, you can find her at the local craft beer joint or indulging in Korean BBQ.

Stephanie Boedecker  

Link:  February 2015 Reach to Teach Blog Carnival: Home is Where . . .  

Description: Moving, making new friends and creating a niche for yourself is never an easy task to accomplish, but somehow doing so halfway around the world turned out to be easier than I'd have thought. That first 'big move' has led to multiple homes in various countries, each looking vastly different from the next, but all sharing the comfort of home.

Bio: Stephanie gave up the 9-5 job three years ago, set her sights on Asia and hasn't looked back since. After two years teaching English in South Korea she continues to call this side of the world home, but now through a more nomadic approach. She is currently eating, traveling, volunteering and yogaing (new word) her way through SE Asia with plans to eventually explore Europe and beyond.

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Reach to Teach Blog Carnival September 2014

Today’s post is written for the Reach To Teach Teach Abroad Blog Carnival, a monthly series that focuses on providing helpful tips and advice to ESL teachers around the globe. The host for this month is Reach to Teach and the topic is what are your top tips for meeting people abroad? Check back for more articles, and if you’d like to contribute to next month’s Blog Carnival, please get in touch with Dean at dean@reachtoteachrecruiting.com, and he’ll let you know how you can start participating!

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How to Meet Other Expats

Today’s article is written for the Reach To Teach Teach Abroad Blog Carnival, a monthly series that focuses on providing helpful tips and advice to ESL teachers around the globe. If you’d like to contribute to next month’s Blog Carnival, please get in touch with Dean at dean@reachtoteachrecruiting.com, and he will let you know how you can start participating!

Before You Go
Moving to a completely different country can be stressful. Having a support group can greatly help you out. If you're in a popular country you can probably throw a stone and hit a foreigner. However, if you're in a less popular country, then you're going to have to make an effort to meet foreigners.

Your local college or university might have international students that you can get in touch with before you move abroad. They can answer some of your questions about living in their country. They might also be able to put you in touch with family and friends still living there.

Online
Things are a heck of a lot easier than they were years ago. With the internet you're never truly alone. You can easily email, chat, or even call friends and family back home for free. Even the most backwater towns seem to have internet. Some sites are blocked in countries such as Saudi Arabia and China, but proxies, such as hidemyass will get you around firewalls.

One of the best ways to connect with teachers in your area is the internet. Dave's ESL Cafe is a great place to start. They can also tell you about other forums, such as waygook in Korea. Facebook is also great. You can create groups and plan events. Word spreads fast among foreigners. Another good place to look for foreigners is meetup. You can search by area as well as interest. Twitter is also a good place to try to meet foreigners in your area. Don't forget about couchsurfing. You can meet foreigners and locals alike this way.

Meeting People Locally
If you're going to take a TEFL certification course in the country where you're planning on moving to, that's another good way to meet foreigners.

Your school is another place, especially if you're in a small town. Sometimes the people at your school may be the only foreigners in the whole town. Like kids who become friends quickly, people working abroad also quickly form friendships.

Some teachers will be the only foreigner at their school and if this happens to you don't worry you'll still easily to meet other foreigners. We tend to stick out like sore thumbs. There is usually a foreigner bar or two in your town, so you might want to try that. Churches are another place where foreigners gather. English book stores as well as foreign restaurants and grocery stores are worth checking out.

Events
The British embassies and the Canadian embassies have a bar and the Irish embassy is usually very helpful due to the fact that there aren't that many Irish abroad as other nationalities. If you're American, you're pretty much screwed as far as embassies go. The lesson? Befriend a Brit or Canuk so that you can get into the embassy bar.

Try to attend a conference or two. You can meet new  people, learn the latest about TEFL, and network your way to a better job. Ditto goes for joining the local professional TEFL organisation, such as JALT in Japan or KOTESOL in Korea. Check IATEFL for a complete list. Big language institutes, such as EF, Berlitz, IH, and the British Council might host events or training sessions for foreigners.

Organisations
If you've worked with the Peace Corps, VSO, or a similar organisation, you might be able to use their returned volunteer services and contact current or former volunteers that are still living in that country. Military organisation, such as the army, marines, etc, may also help out former servicepeople.

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How to Create a Personal Learning Network

Updated 22 September 2016

It's hard to escape networking these days with the internet. PLN or personal learning networks have become popular among educators. They are basically people that you exchange information with and this usually takes place online. By using VLE or virtual learning environments, it's pretty easy to exchange ideas.

There are a handful of good guides about how to build a personal learning network. You do have to be careful though. More and more companies are basing hiring decisions upon what they find on prospective employees social media networks.

PLNs allow you to work on your professional development, find resources, learn new ideas, network, keep up-to-date about the latest news in your field, among other things. TEFL teachers have really taken to PLN.

Blog Carnival: You can just read it or write your own post and have it be included in the carnival. Unfortunately both of these blog carnivals have now closed. If you know of any please let me know. Here's the ELT Blog Carnival, the upcoming topics, and the sign-up sheet (The ELT Blog Carnival closed down in fall 2014). Reach to Teach also has a blog carnival they just started (They closed in spring 2015).

Blogs: Start following a couple of blogs and commenting on them. You'll get to know the blog writers and other readers that way. If you don't have a blog, consider starting one. Edu Blogs is probably the largest blogging community of educators out there.

Facebook: Join groups or networks and actively participate in them.

Linkedin: Complete your profile and start connecting with people. You might want to consider becoming a LION (LinkedIn Open Networker) and accepting any and all invitations that aren't spam. Joining groups and participating in conversations can help.

MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses): Some publishing companies have free webinars that you can attend as long as you sign up, such as  Academic Earth, Class-Central, Coursera, EdX, Lynda, Skill Crush, U of People, Udemy, and Udacity.

Nings: EFL Classroom 2.0 and the Educator's PLN are good places to start.

Podcasts: The itunes store has good podcasts, some of them are even free.

RSS: Allows you to follow blogs easily.

Social Bookmarking: You can see what other people are reading online and also share your bookmark list.

Skype: You can talk to people around the world.

TED: Lots of great presentations by famous people.

Twitter: Short and sweet, you can share ideas anytime, anywhere. Check out #ELTChat. It started in 2010 and every Wednesday they talk about a certain topic. They don't have chats during July or August. Here's a list of the summaries of past topics.

Web 2.0: This is basically a combination of many of the ideas here, social networking, blogs, wikis, videos, etc, all in one place.

Wikis: More and more groups are creating wikis in order to gather information in one place.

Youtube: You can subscribe to channels, watch the latest presentations, and comment on them.  

Over to you

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ESL Educators Blog Carnival: March 2012, Open Topic

From site.catholicfavors.com

The topic of March's ESL Educators Blog Carnival was an open topic. People wrote about a variety of topics such as teaching in Latin America and how to study language in the US. You can read people's opinions on Wandering Educators.

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ESL Educator's Blog Carnival: Tips for Teaching Specific Groups

TEFL Tips is hosting this month's carnival. The topic for is tips for teaching specific groups of learners. If you're interested in participating in this blog carnival please contact me.

. . .  from My Several Worlds
Teaching English as a Second Language can be a challenge for any native English speaker, even those with TEFL training. This month, Carrie Kellenberger offers three tips to teach specific groups of ESL learners, including tips for teaching kids, teenagers, adults, Business English, IELTS, and zero-beginners. You can find Carrie's tips and more at the ESL educator's guide - tips for teaching to specific groups of ESL students at My Several Worlds.

Carrie Kellenberger, a freelance writer and photographer living in Asia since 2003, writes about life as an expat, Asian travel destinations, and her experiences working in the ESL industry on her award-winning web site, My Several Worlds.


. . . from Wandering Educators
The Jo Sheppard Head Start Center in Florida serves immigrant and migrant populations. The classrooms are cozy, linguistically rich environments. There is a solid group of well-trained teachers guiding the cognitive, emotional, and linguistic development of the children in a variety of ways. The Center’s focus remains bilingualism: acquire English and develop Spanish. The school is a model for bilingual education. You can find Maria's tips and more at soar leaders tomorrow.

Maria Alvarez is the ESL Editor for Wandering Educators. She teaches ESL/Bilingual Endorsement Courses at Quincy University, and is a tutor and academic advisor IB/AP English and Spanish, College Prep.

. . . from TEFL Tips
Teaching young learners is particularly rewarding because they learn so quickly. However, it can also be challenging to teach when the girls are sitting nicely with their hands folded on their laps while the boys run laps around the classroom. Or when the boys are eager to do science experiments and the girls want nothing to do with them. No one can deny that boys and girls learn differently. Therefore it's only logical that you adapt your activities to suit them. Making simple changes will allow boys and girls to get the most out of class. You can find Sharon's tips and more at how boys and girls learn differently and what to do about it.

Sharon de Hinojosa has been TEFLing since 2003.  She started posting on Dave’s ESL Cafe and found herself regularly giving advice to newbies and thought it would be good to compile answers to FAQ that newbies often have and that’s how TEFL Tips got started.

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ESL Educators Blog Carnival: January 2012, Open Topic

January's ESL Educators Blog Carnival was an open topic. People wrote about tax info for Americans, teaching on a whim, ice breakers, and dealing with culture shock. You can read them at My Several Worlds.

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ESL Educators Blog Carnival: December 2011, Engaging Women in the Classroom

The topic of December's ESL Educators Blog Carnival is Engaging Women in the Classroom. You can read people's opinions on Go Teach Abroad.

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Poll Results November 2011: What's your favorite part of TEFL Tips?

Question: What's your favourite part of TEFL Tips?

• Articles: 50% with 3 votes
• Polls 16% with 1 vote
• Top 10: 16% with 1 vote
• Job Site: 16% with 1 vote
• ESL Educators Blog Carnival: 0%
• ESL EFL Roadshow: 0%
• Hot Topic: 0%
• Cool Link: 0%
• Quick Tip: 0%

December's poll: Where do you teach? Be sure to vote now!

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ESL Educators Blog Carnival: November 2011, The English Only Movement

The topic of November's ESL Educators Blog Carnival is the English Only Movement. You can read people's opinions on Wandering Educators.

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ESL EFL Roadshow: Succeeding Abroad

TEFL Newbie is hosting this month's ESL EFL Roadshow this month. There are lots of experience, tips, and ideas to help ESL and EFL teachers out. This month's topic is Succeeding Abroad. You can read more at TEFL Newbie.

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ESL Educators Blog Carnival: September 2011, TEFL Certificates

TEFL Tips is hosting the ESL Educators Blog Carnival this month: a group of bloggers from across the spectrum.  Lots of experience, tips, and ideas to help ESL and EFL teachers out.

From TEFL Newbie

The Internet is the Internet and you will read many opinions, some very definite and positive, but still just opinions about what kind of TEFL Training is acceptable. About international standards. About what employers will or won’t accept. Some people say only the CELTA or Trinity are okay and suggest you are wasting your money with anything else. But you should know that there is not ONE organization or ONE set standard in the world for TEFL programs. Period. There just isn’t. Find out by reading Ted's blog at TEFL Newbie.

Ted Tucker is a retired TEFL educator and TEFL Teacher Trainer. With an overseas career that started as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana in 1989 - he has been abroad ever since working in countries throughout Asia and the Middle East. You can find him at TEFL Newbie.

From My Several Worlds

Just because you speak English fluently doesn’t mean you understand the mechanics of how the English language works. A good TEFL course will give you the basics that you need to become a successful and skilled educator. Here's why you should take a TEFL training course if you want to teach abroad.  Find out by reading the post TEFL Courses Explained - Why You Should Take A TEFL Training Course To Teach Abroad at Carrie's site, My Several Worlds.

Carrie Kellenberger, a freelance writer and photographer living in Asia since 2003, writes about life as an expat, Asian travel destinations, and her experiences working in the ESL industry on her award-winning web site, My Several Worlds. 

From TEFL Tips
On-site, online, weekend, intensive, semestre long: with so many choices out there it's hard to TEFL cert. Some TEFL courses are well worth the time, effort, and money and others won't get you noticed when you apply for teaching jobs. Find out which ones are worth it and which ones you should skip at Choosing a TEFL Course.

Sharon de Hinojosa is your host here at TEFL Tips. I've been teaching English since early 2003.  I got started posting on Dave’s ESL Cafe shortly after and found myself regularly helping out other people and giving advice to newbies.  Over time, things progressed and I thought it would be a good idea to compile answers to FAQ that newbies often have about TEFLing and that’s how my wonderful TEFL Tips got started.

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ESL EFL Roadshow: Job Interview Tips

TEFL Tips is hosting the first ESL EFL Roadshow this month: a group of bloggers from around the world. Lots of experience, tips, and ideas to help ESL and EFL teachers out. This month's topic is job interview tips.

From TEFL Newbie
Most people approach TEFL interviews the same way they would an interview back in their home country. Two problems with that. First, many of us are hoping to escape that uncomfortable and degrading process in a new world overseas. Second, more often than not your interviewer is not from that Western world and has distinctly different ideas about who they want to hire and why. Here's how to win that job!  Find out by reading Ted's blog TEFL Newbie.

Ted Tucker is a retired TEFL educator and TEFL Teacher Trainer. With an overseas career that started as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana in 1989 - he has been abroad ever since working in countries throughout Asia and the Middle East. You can find him at TEFL Newbie.

From Istanbul's Stranger
Remember, you're interviewing them too. Four tips about weird job interviews that might be telling you something is seriously awry. Find out more by reading Istanbul's Stranger's blog.


Istanbul's Stranger is originally from Reno, Nevada and most recently from Portland, Oregon. Stranger came to Turkey almost 10 years ago. She had all kinds of education before that, which she's still paying for. Stranger's been working in the former Byzantium since she arrived, teaching adults at language schools and universities. She also did some freelance writing while on work-hiatus for baby-raising, and currently babysits grown-up children in the English prep department of a large university.

From Teacher in Mexico
Congratulations! You just finished your EFL teacher training, those grueling four weeks of sweating over coming up with interesting ideas for classes, of pouring over page after page of theory, of juggling type three conditionals. Well you're all done. So what’s next? The job interview. Find out more by reading Guy's blog Teacher in Mexico.

Guy Courchesne, TEFL course instructor, Teachers Latin America. Guy is a journalist and and EFL teacher that has lived in Mexico for 11 years. Guy has been teaching business EFL and TEFL courses for the last 9 years in Mexico City, Acapulco, and Guadalajara. Guy is a member of Mextesol and also gives English teaching workshops to language institutes around Mexico. You can find him at Teacher in Mexico.

From TEFL Tips
Interviews can be daunting but if you're prepared and know what to expect you'll have no problem acing your interview. Don't forget to ask questions as well! Find out what questions you'll be asked and what questions you should ask the interviewer by reading TEFL Tips.


Sharon de Hinojosa is your host here at TEFL Tips. I've been teaching English since early 2003.  I got started posting on Dave’s ESL Cafe shortly after and found myself regularly helping out other people and giving advice to newbies.  Over time, things progressed and I thought it would be a good idea to compile answers to FAQ that newbies often have about TEFLing and that’s how my wonderful TEFL Tips got started.

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ESL Educators Blog Carnival: July 2011, Culture

The topic of July's ESL Educators Blog Carnival is culture. You can read what teachers think on Ted's TEFL Newbie.

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New TEFL Tips Design

TEFL Tips is finally a dot com! The new address is www.tefl-tips.com Be sure to update your bookmarks!

About TEFL Tips
TEFL Tips is designed to help ESL and EFL newbies and olbies alike. Whether you teach ESL, EFL, EAP, ESP, the 4 skills, exam prep, Business English, young learners, teenagers, or adults, you'll find tons of info to help you out. Here's an example of what can be found at TEFL Tips:

• How to write a fantastic CV
• Tips to help you ace your next interview
• How to get a masters degree online
• The best TEFL jobs in the world: a list of over 300 jobs in 45+ countries
• Europe for non-EU citizens: how to live, work, and study in the EU
• FAQ to teaching in Latin America:info about 15 Latin American countries
• What's the best country to teach in?: popular TEFL countries around the world

Weekly Posts: If you have an idea for a Hot Topic, Cool Link, Quick Tip, or Job Site email me and be sure to let me know your name and website (if you have one).

• A Hot Topic in teaching
• A Cool Link to a neat website (published twice a week)
• A Quick Tip to help you become a better teacher
• A Job Site that tells you the best places to look for TESL and TEFL jobs

Monthly Posts

• 1st week: An ESL, EFL, or general teaching article about TEFL Basics, Career Advancement, Classroom Tips, Money Matters, or Where to go
• 2nd week: Poll Results from last month's poll
• 2nd week: The ESL EFL Roadshow
• 3rd week: The ESL Educators Blog Carnival

New Design
I've been working on TEFL Tips for the past couple of weeks trying to get it more organised and easier to navigate. Here are the 10 changes I've made.


1. EBOOKS: They're at the top of the page.

2. PAGES: They're at the top of the site and organised by subject.

• About: It has an introduction to TEFL Tips. There's also contact information on this page.  Whether you have questions, comments, or suggestions for articles or posts, are interested in being a guest blogger, or want advertising rates, feel free to contact me.
• TEFL Basics: Heaps of information for those starting out, such as taking a TEFL course and writing a CV.
• Career: Information for those wanting to make a career out of teaching, such as getting masters degree and finding university jobs.
• Classroom: Tips for the classroom, such as teaching the 4 skills and classroom management.
• Money: How to make extra money, such as teaching private students and negotiating your contract.
• Where to go: Information about TEFLing around the world..
• ebooks: How to teach the 4 skills, grammar, young learners, and a guide to Peru.

3. POLL: On the left side there's a monthly poll about teaching.  The results will be published every 7th of each month.

4. SHARE BUTTONS: Facebook, Reddit, Tweet, and other share buttons can be found at the top and bottom of each post. 

5. TAGS: They're on the left and should help you find exactly what you're looking for.

6. SUGGESTED ARTICLES: At the bottom of each post is a list of 5 articles that might interest you.

7. MORE ARTICLES: There will be weekly Hot Topics, Cool Links, and Quick Tips. There will also be 3 special articles each month.  There will be a main article coming out the 1st of every month. Poll results will be published on the 7th. On the 21st there will be a link to the ESL Carnival, which is a monthly compilation of 7 articles by 7 different authors all about topics related to teaching. 

8. EASIER TO READ: From 3 columns to 2 columns. And a "Read more" link at the bottom of each post to help you skim down the blog and find the articles that interest you.  You can also find a search function in the left column.

9. FEWER ADVERTS: Many adverts have been taken down and the ones left up are ones that I personally believe have something good to offer.

10. UPDATED POSTS: Many old posts have been updated to ensure that you have the lastest info.

Hope you enjoy the new look!
Sharon

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