Teacher in Development

I am just reading a post over at the Hello, my name is BLOG blog, and I really enjoyed it, agreed with it, and wanted to pass it along to you for your consideration. It’s called “The World is a Mirror, Part 13. M is for Mundane.”

Scott’s opening is great, in my humble opinion, and it’s something teachers…perhaps especially ESL teachers, should be thinking about constantly: How can we make mundane things memorable?

How can our classrooms be fantastic places?

If you’re a freelancer, I think “breaking mundane” is vital if you want to expand your practice. I don’t mean to pick on any company or way of doing things, but I’ve just gotta mention something I see almost every day.  I always drive by a major language training center on my way to work. They’re a big time company, and can afford nice offices and classrooms. The classrooms that I always see, are on the second floor, and are completely glass. As a marketing ploy I suppose, you can see everything that is going on inside the classroom. Wanna know what I see? Pretty much the same thing every moring: Business people sitting around square tables. Their heads are usually down, working through some exercise in a workbook.

To be honest, I don’t know what the environment is like on the inside of the glass. Maybe they have lively discussions, and a wonderful teacher who excels at crafting engaging learning experiences. But somehow I doubt it. I’ve known a lot of people who have worked for/with this company. They often have similar opinions of the methodology: It’s boring, and there’s little freedom to go off the beaten curriculum path.

But even if you’re not a big shot company, I think you have to strive to ward off the mundane. Think about it for a while. Would your students describe your class as being: monotonous, tedious, irksome, tiresome, or humdrum? (Those words are all synonyms for boring at thefreedictionary.com. ) An even better question: How would you describe your classes?

According to Scott, killing mundane is vital for growth. Here’s how he sees the results of killing mundane:

Breaking the silence = breaking the pattern.
Breaking the pattern = mundane into memorable.
Memorable moments = increased comfort.
Increased comfort = increased approachability.
More approachability = strangers into friends.
Friends = people who become loyal, aka, fans.
Fans = people who love your stuff.
More fans = more positive word of mouth.
More people talking about how much they love your stuff =

HELLO, my name is BLOG: The World is a Mirror, Part 13

A week ago, I decided to do something different in one of my one-on-one classes. I arrived a few minutes before, and dropped into a nearby bakery. I picked up two AWESOME looking apple strudels, and took them into class. Food and drink totally transform most gatherings where people are involved, and classrooms are no different. While this particular class is almost always relaxed and easy going, the strudel brought the conversation even deeper. We had a great time, and our conversation ranged all over the place. Most of all though, there was greater comfort and confidence: key ingredients to successfully building language fluency don’t you think?

What do you do to break the mundane?

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