Virtual Round Table and...

I love conferences. I love listening to interesting people and sharing ideas. I love learning new things.

But conferences are expensive and it’s usually very difficult for a regular teacher, like myself, to attend them. Also because our employers frown at the idea of giving us a day or two off.

That’s why the Virtual Round Table Conferences are so incredibly awesome. The only thing you need is a computer with access to the Internet, some free time and willingness to learn. 

All the sessions I virtually attended last weekend were motivating, well prepared and super informative so let me thank the members of my PLN that made my participation in the conference a worthwhile experience :)

 

Thank you Janet for sharing so many sites and tips on how to make students enjoy learning Phrasal Verbs!

Janet Bianchini Fun with Phrasal Verbs!

Thank you Mike for showing us how to start Faceblogging!

Mike Harrison Getting some Facebook time with your colleagues

Thank you Miguel for reminding me that I have a Flip and I should get busy making good use of it!

Miguel Mendoza Flip Cameras in the ELT Classroom

Thank you Guido for the best session about Twitter I’ve ever attended – it was great to see you again!

Guido Europeaantje Twitter: Turn 140 Characters into a Virtual Staffroom

Thank you Heike, Shelly and Berni for all the hard work you put into organizing the conference.

Great, great job ladies!

Last but not least, I’ve recently realized that on the 6th of October my blog turned 1 year old. 

So Happy Birthday L_missbossy’s Playground!

Thank you Lindsay for the inspiring session about blogging in Budapest last year and thank you PLN for stopping by, reading and commenting! Hadn’t it been for you, I definitely would’t be here!

You may also read Barbara Sakamoto’s fantastic account of the 3rd Virtual Round Table conference here.

Twitter Connecting People

Having travelled quite a lot during the past few years, I have always chosen places with rich historical past or ones that my guidebook recommended.  Since the birth of my blog and my joining Twitter  though –  there has been one more criterion that helps me plan trips.

This July, I have spent 12 wonderful days travelling around Portugal. I may have never visited Braga, hadn’t it been for Anna Pires who took her time to show me and my friends around. And how do I know Anna? From Twitter, of course!

The best thing when you travel is to meet locals and having a gang of fellow Twitterati, it has never been more fun!

One can say that people can always meet at conferences so why bother travelling around meeting folks you knows from Twitter. But conferences are not the same. People are busy, someone has a presentation, there are tons of teachers you want to talk to and little time. Meeting  in a neutral environment is a totally different ball game. You have time to talk, feel relaxed and the topics for conversation are plentiful.

Now why am I writing this?

First of all to thank Anna Pires again J

Second of all, I’m going to travel around Spain at the beginning of September (3-12.09.2010). Having spent days planning the route, me and my friend have decided to stay in Madrid for two days and then travel south to Seville, Malaga, Granada and … hmm… Murcia/ Valencia/ Toledo?

If anyone reading this is into a little get-together somewhere in Spain -  let me know! :)

With Anna and my friend Sasha in Braga :)

Bringing out the beast by Lindsay Clandfield

Dear Readers,

It is my honour to invite you to read my first guest post written by Lindsay Clandfield.

Bringing out the beast

I’ve been a part of the ELT blogosphere and twitterverse for only a year now, so perhaps I’m not making a new point here, but I wonder if this medium doesn’t make us act in occasionally extreme ways. Okay, well maybe extreme is an extreme word but I’ve come across some pretty intense blogposts and comments (both on my blog and on others) that are, at times, rather aggressive and contain thinly veiled character attacks. What’s stranger is that sometimes they are from people who, face to face, are nowhere near like that. I’ve also felt myself get the urge to rant about something too (and no doubt I have, both on my blog and elsewhere).

One argument for this because people experience more disinhibition on the Internet, and feel free of adverse consequences of their words. You could say that the internet brings out the beast in some of us.

But this is only one side of the story. There is another characteristic of this social media which is precisely the opposite: that of extreme affection. On twitter, blogs and other social media I see lots of verbal stroking, encouragement, “you’re the best!” type stuff as well. Sometimes it looks like a veritable love-fest. And yes, before you ask, I’ve also caught myself getting carried away with what one colleague cynically called the “happy-clappy” spirit of it all.

Has anyone else noticed this or is it my imagination? Is there an explanation for it? Is it a man-thing or woman-thing? Does all this web 2.0 stuff give us all bipolar tendencies?

This is a little post I’ve been meaning to write for some time, and it never managed to fit into my six things format I set for myself on my other blog. So I’m glad that Anita invited me here to do a blog post for her. 

Lindsay Clandfield is a teacher, teacher trainer and author. He is also a fan of lists and a godfather of L_missbossy's ELT playground. Lindsay's blog Six Things is, in my humble opinion, one of the best in the blogosphere.