#KELTchat is back! Preview for March 9 chat

Happy New Year, Korea ELT chatters! Hope you all had a nice break and are refreshed and ready to resume #KELTchatting.

This week’s chat will be held on Sunday, March 9th at 8pm.
The topic is “Being a Whole Teacher: Personal Development for Teachers”.

Teacher development is a hot topic in ELT these days, from iTDi’s blog series on “The Whole Teacher” published last week to Josette LeBlanc’s #RedThumbForLove project.

We invite you to join us in exploring these ideas and we are excited to announce that Josette LeBlanc has agreed to appear as our guest expert.

Although there’s a K in #KELTchat, this topic is a global issue and we invite our friends around the world to join this chat.

“To be whole as teachers, we must be whole as people – we must love ourselves, forgive ourselves, and accept ourselves.  I don’t believe this notion of wholeness can be taught but I do believe it can come over time and for each teacher the time it takes will vary.” Chris Mares

“Perhaps the best word to describe the lesson is connection. All the components came together. The class atmosphere was warm and supportive. The more I encouraged my students’ enjoyment and involvement, the more I rejoiced in it.” Kate Cory-Wright

“Teaching can be a lonely profession. Often, we don’t have anyone to turn to who understands the challenges we face. Self-care may be the only strategy we can turn to when the job gets too hard.” Josette LeBlanc

In preparation for the chat, we recommend you read the iTDi blog: http://itdi.pro/blog/2014/02/28/the-whole-teacher/

and Josette’s post: http://throwingbacktokens.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/teacher-self-compassion-redthumbforlove-compassion-training-3-2/

Josette would also like to recommend this article: Seeing Student Learning: Teacher Change and the Role of Reflection

We would like to have room for the chat to follow any direction of interest to participants, but here are some questions we think might come up:

– What does it mean to be a “whole teacher”?

– Do we need to try to develop personally as teachers, as well as professionally. If we do, what is the relative importance of personal development compared to professional development?

– According to Chris Mares, being a whole teacher is about being oneself, mindfully and with presence. How can this be done?

– According to Kate Cory-Wright, being a whole teacher means connection with the students. How can this be facilitated?

– According to Hengameh Ghandehari, being a whole teacher means being effective for each group of students. How do we meet these students’ needs?

– And finally, what strategies do we use when in spite of everything, things don’t work out the way we hoped they would? What are ways to offer ourselves the compassion we can get no where else?

If you’d like to join us, but you’re not sure how, check out the how to tab at the top of the page. If you’re still not sure, send me a tweet (@annehendler) or stop by the Facebook page and we’ll be happy to help you.