This was originally posted on April 1, 2012 at https://higorcavalcante.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/life-post-iatefl/
I got back from Europe – after yet another amazing IATEFL conference – last Wednesday, and tomorrow, Monday, a new teaching life begins… some 13 years down the road!
It was really invigorating to hear so many new ideas, to see so many incredible people sharing the amazing things only teachers who care a great deal about what they do could have come up with. It was also humbling, and I realized – not without some pain – that I have been a bit repetitive in my classes and teacher training sessions lately, and that somehow there hasn’t been much novelty in my way of looking at and practicing ELT for longer than I’d like to admit, and decided that this ends now. Or, better yet, something else – curiosity? – begins now… all over again.
Starting tomorrow, I’ll go back to studying this area I love so much in detail, and will do my very best to keep in touch with these amazing professionals from the world over who so selflessly make their ideas available to everyone via their blogs, Twitter, Facebook and the like. More than that, I will try to actually BE one of these people, and will start by sharing as much as I have time for here on the blog with fellow teachers who can spare a few minutes every week. Above all, I’ll try to be better for my students and trainee teachers every day, and do my very best to make as much difference in their lives as these 4 days (!) shared with teachers from all around made for me.
Here’s to the next 13 years… and more!
Higor Cavalcante 