Ghost of a Good Thing

Hello people...

Life really has a way of suprising one doesn't it? I try to give everyone a chance ...i really do as odd as that may seem, but finally i see what everyone else has been telling me for years, except me and maybe two-three other people might have been the last holdouts. The last one's who had any faith so to speak. How can one get so many chances and blow it in such a grand fashion? To piss on others is one thing, but to piss on a legacy? That is disgusting. Some people do not realize what their legacy is, what has been handed down from the last generation. Its one thing to not have a chance, but to have every opportunity in front of you and do it consistantly? Well maybe im one to talk...

I am no angel, i make no bones about it..i have made mistakes in the past. I have hurt people by the stupidity of some of my decisions. I have done some boneheaded things that when i look back now i think, what was i thinking? Did that person really deserve that? No they did not. No use saying that you are sorry when the deed is done though is it? Saying sorry does not undo those mistakes, we make mistakes due to many things, being greedy, wanting more than what we have, thinking we can get away with it...i remember i stole or tried to steal a cassette of Van Halen II from the Superstore in Dartmouth in 1988 and i was caught and banned for a year..my parents were there and it was so embaressing... i learned my lesson, yes i have fucked up on more than one occassion since then...but that was then, this is now.

Sure i've had things done to me, but we learn to rise above it. Facing challenges and new opportunities. We learn from our mistakes, or at least some of us do. When i look back at things i think to myself, why didn't i do this or do that? But that is all in the past...cannot bring back the past now can we? Sure i've made mistakes, going to Mount A instead of staying at Acadia...made lots of good friends, but i should have stayed put..maybe moved out of the Tower, but stayed put. Who knows? I cannot change that can i? There are crushes i had...why did i bother? Why did i do this and not that? I went overseas to teach twice without a lick of teaching experiences and those were both learning experiences, now i am learning how to teach, well learning how to teach ESL properly, it is called going back and correcting the problem. 

There is still time to change for some people...hope its not too late, that doesn't heal what has been done though...

Onto other things...

This ESL thing is going not too bad, i've been into the books but it is so hard to get back into the groove after not being into the books for like a good four years or so... been feeling anxious lately..this ESL stuff, done right is such an opportunity, but why do i allow myself to embrace anxiety as well? Little things are creeping up on me, Sunday's distraction was a good one, then outside forces do not help, worrying about things outside of the house, at work and what have you. Taking little things and letting them get to me instead of remaining cool, calm and collecting about this kind of stuff. I should be embracing the good stuff, instead of letting aniexty get to me.

As for my book there are a few things that i have learned from the get-go about teaching. The book talks about the usage of teaching methods and how they are outdated in todays teaching world. A teaching method is a foolproof system for classroom instruction. A method is a set of theoretically defined classroom techniques thought to be generalizable across a wide variety of contexts and audiences. With methods the role of the teacher is minimized and all the teacher has to do is to apply the method and change/ adapt their teaching style to conform to the method. Methods fail to address the broader contexts of teaching and leanring and focus on only one small part of a more complex set of elements. A commitment to a single method of teaching may impede the teacher's full potential as a teacher.

The book speaks alot about pedagogy which is defined as the study of teaching methods, including the aims of education and the ways in which such goals may be achieved. The field relies heavily on educational psychology, or theories about the way in which learning takes place. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction. Pedagogy is also sometimes referred to as the correct use of teaching strategies. For example, Paulo Freire referred to his method of teaching adults as "critical pedagogy". In correlation with those teaching strategies the instructor's own philosophical beliefs of teaching are harbored and governed by the pupil's background knowledge and experiences, personal situations, and environment, as well as learning goals set by the student and teacher. One example would be the Socratic schools of thought.

The best teachers are able to take calcualted risks in the classroom as new student needs are percieved, innovative pedological are attempted and the follow-up assessment yields an observed judgement on their effectiveness. Successful language learners, in their realistic appraisal of themselves as vulnerable beings yet capable of accomplishing tasks, must be willing to become "gamblers" in the game of language, to attempt to produce and to interpret language that is a bit beyond their absolute certainty. One must develop strategic involvement which is the successful mastering of a second language is a result of the learners own personal investment of time, effort and attention to the second language- an individual strategy for the comprehension and production of another language


Ok folks...that is enough of that for now... have a good one...