‘Me and My Men’ was supposed to be the topic of my first Pecha Kucha. Those of you who have actually seen my Pechachka at Istek know that I was eventually talking about something else ;)
I might not have the chance to do this particular PK and it might be too personal so I have decided to blog about the men of ELT who are a constant source of inspiration for me and without whom I certainly wouldn’t be here. Some of them I’ve met and some I haven’t and the selection was hard as I had to choose only 10 names.
Why 10 men and not women?
Why not!
If you are male but I haven’t included you on that list, don’t worry, I’m currently preparing more lists J
- Hebert Puchta (@herbertpuchta) – What a gentlemen he is – charming, super intelligent and very kind. He’s recently joined Twitter so if you haven’t started following him yet, you should! Btw, have you realized that his belt always matches his shoes or is it just me?
- Jeremy Harmer (@Harmerj) – Meeting him at the Istek conference was one of the most pleasant experiences as he’s such a warm and modest person J Jeremy’s responsible for introducing me to high quality teaching. Hadn’t it been for his ‘Practice of ELT’ I would probably consider Grammar Translation a very useful teaching method.
- Ken Wilson (@kenwilsonlondon) – A volcano full of energy, wit and ideas. There’s no way you can get bored having him around. He’s the one who made me see the benefits of using drama in ELT for which I’m eternally grateful.
- Scott Thornbury (@thornburyscott) – I have never met this gentleman but would love to do so one day. I love reading his blog as it gives me plenty of food for thought. He replies to every single comment even if it’s not written by an ELT VIP and has my full respect for that.
- Gavin Dudeney (@dudeneyge) – An edutech guru that was very surprised with the way I look like in real life. It must have been truly shocking as he even tweeted about it. If you’re reading this by any chance Gavin – I have finally read your book and am willing to pay for everything once we meet again ;)
- Nick Jaworski (@Turklishtefl) – I have to say I know him best of all the men here as we both live and teach in
- Mike Harrison (@harrisonmike) – I’ve never met him but hope it’ll change soon. Mike seems to be one of the friendliest and most active people I’ve met on Twitter. His enthusiasm is very contagious so whenever I feel down, Mike’s there to cheer me up. Thanks for that!
- Mark Andrews (@marekandrews) – His blog focusing on culture is one of its kind in the blogosphere. I’ve always considered it a brother of L_missbossy’s ELT playground as both blogs were born after one memorable session at the IATEFL Hungary 2009 conference.
- Jamie Keddie (@cheimi10) – He’s young, smart and full of amazing, original ideas related usually to pictures and drawing, something that I find particularly appealing. I adore his accent as it always reminds me that I have to visit
- Last but not least, the Godfather of my blog, Lindsay Clandfield (@lclandfield). I could devote a whole post for expressing my thank-yous but let’s leave it for a different occasion. What I really appreciate about him is his rationality combined with immense creativity. Plus a great deal of sense of humour of course. I can listen to him for hours and there aren't many men out there who can make me do that. Lindsay, I do owe you!
*The first person to guess where the original quote comes from can claim his or her prize!
I’m terrible at cooking and have already promised a guided tour of Istanbul
On a final note, thanks again for keeping your fingers crossed during my PK at Istek!
It wasn't that bad after all :)
On a final note, thanks again for keeping your fingers crossed during my PK at Istek!
It wasn't that bad after all :)
Well, if your PK is anywhere near as kind and considered as this list, it will have been very good indeed. I'm still hoping Burcu will put them up somewhere (if you're reading this, Burcu, pretty please with a cherry on top?).
ReplyDeleteWow, such exalted company. I'm not really sure I deserve to be up there. If I seem to be friendly on Twitter, I guess a large part of that is down to everyone else I know there - it is, like Graham Stanley has said, a big big staffroom of inspired and inspiring people. I can't wait to meet them all.
(How did you know 7 is my favourite number, by the way?) =)
Intuition?
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to meeting you too :)
Thanks for the mention Anita. I'm honored to be included. I'm not sure heating up debates is a particularly desireable "skill" lol. But I do enjoy it. Next fiery debate should be up in a day or two :)
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure Nick :)
ReplyDeleteThe fiery debate sounds promising indeed :o
Wow. I am honored, just as much as I was when you mentioned something similar in your very clever PK in Istanbul. Nice to see I am in good company, and I would like a tweet-up with that Mike fellow one day too.!
ReplyDeleteAnita,
ReplyDeleteIt is a truth universally acknowledged that every female student of English Philology loves Mr Darcy;) Don't laugh at me - I've recently read "Pride and Prejudice" AGAIN!!!
Anyway, I've been peeking at your blog for some time and I'm impressed! I like your style of writing and definitely you have a lot of interesting things to say. And I keep wondering who that guy you had a crush on was, ha ha.
Keep writing!
Hugs & kisses from Gdansk,
Agata (yes yes, Agata from the English department)
Agata, claim your prize!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm soooo happy to see you here :)))
I'll be in Poland in May (15-23) so we simply HAVE to meet up! Will tell you also who that guy was ;)
Great to hear you like my blog :) Who would have thought... American Literature leading to blogging about teaching - feels like it was years ago.
The main difference is that I'm an old spinster now LOL :)))
Lindsay - you clearly are addicted to lists but the better for me in this particular case ;)
ReplyDeleteLet me just say that I'm really happy you found time to read what I wrote :)
We've been planning a tweet-up with Mike in Portugal this July so feel invited to join us! (it's not that far from Spain in the end ;)
I'm worried about your Herbert Puchta comment. Isn't this the very minimum a man should do? Heck, I try to match my tie to my shoelaces and my shirt to my socks!* If there are men walking around trying to teach with mismatched belts and shoes, no wonder ELT is in such a sorry state....
ReplyDelete*(this part is not actually a joke, although the comment in general is meant to be humorous)
You do have a point Darren - if all male teachers tried to match their shoes to their belts ELT would be in a much better condition ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat to see you here btw!
Hooray! As a prize I'd like to get a beautiful postcard from you! From Istanbul of course! Something breathtaking, please!:))) I'll mail you my home address:)
ReplyDeleteAnd YES, we have to catch up in May!:)) I might be going to Moscow around May 19 but I hope we'll manage to meet before that.
Btw, do you know that Justa gave birth to a beautiful baby girl last Saturday? Can you imagine?? We're getting old indeed:D:D
Ciao!
Waiting for the address, postcard will arrive soon :)
ReplyDeleteMay 17th(18th) sounds perfect for a meeting!
Heard about Justa's girl and have seen her on NK - what a cutie :)))
It's high time for me to start thinking about finding my Mr Darcy, I guess. Wonder where - maybe on Twitter :D
Hey there!
ReplyDeleteI only just found this, and just wanted to say thank you for 9including me in your list. And such an illustrious list, too!
You're going to pay for everything, you say???
Gavin
I will. Promise :)))
ReplyDelete