It’s only recently that I become CELTA qualified and member of the ELT community, so I guess it was about time to be tagged by Marisa Constantinides.

What’s the challenge?

Well, first I have to introduce the person who tagged me and answer the eleven questions posed by her.  Then, I have to share eleven random facts about myself and tag another eleven bloggers who will have to answer, in turn, my eleven questions.  So, beware!!!

About the “Tagger”

My very first meeting with Marisa was one year ago, when I applied for my CELTA course and I had to undergo the pre-course interview. She’s been one of my course tutors during my CELTA course in July.

So here are a few words about this busy woman…

Marisa is the Director of studies and the owner of CELT Athens. She is responsible for all the CELTA and DELTA courses at the center. However, these aren’t the only things that Marisa does. She is a teacher, teacher educator, conference presenter and ELT author. She holds a Diploma in TEFLA and an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from Reading University. Also, Marisa is one of the founding moderators of #ELTchat, a weekly discussion of ELT teachers on Twitter which was shortlisted in the 2012 ELTon Awards for Innovation in Teacher Resources.

My 11 random facts

1. I have an identical twin brother. We used to wear the same clothes at school until the age of 12!!!
2. When I was seven I wanted to play the piano. I only managed to get a toy piano then. After my CELTA, I got a real piano as a present!
3. I learnt to play the piano by watching piano tutorials on Youtube!  I’m still a novice piano player.  The first song which I managed to play from the very beginning to its end is “Someone like you” by Adele.
4. I’ve got the most adorable cat in the whole universe. His name is Jack. He is partially handicapped. My family and I take good care of him. The vet had said that he would only live for one year after his surgery (summer 2009). Here we are…2014 and he is still alive and kicking.
5. During my junior high school years, my sister introduced me to metal. A few years years later, I have let her down! Now, I listen to mainstream music and dance hits!!!
6. My original plan was to study medicine, but I got myself to nursing school at the University of Athens.
7. I’m a non-smoker. If only everybody would stop smoking!!! 🙂
8. Unfortunately, I’m not a good team player. I’m not really proud of this fact, but I can’t change who I am.
9. Sweets, tons of sweets. Mmm…Yummy!!! I’d rather eat sweets than homemade food. I’m crazy about them! If you want to get rid of me, poison the sweets that you’ll offer to me.
10. When I was three, I bit a cat at the back of its head. It never showed up after that innocent bite! :p
11. I’ve been to Crete once! I went sightseeing to Heraklion and to Sitia in one day’s time! I’ve returned back to my hometown (Salamis) at the very same night. It was exhausting!!!

“Tagger’s” Questions

Here are my answers to the questions posed by Marisa:

1. It’s really difficult to choose only three qualities, but I’ll give it a try.
   1. Rapport builder – it is really important to make sure that your learners get on well with each other, because a class full of prickly learners can lead to nothing.
   2. Facilitator – again it is crucial that you do your best to help learners to achieve their goals. As teachers we have to encourage learners to participate and contribute ideas. Not to mention that we have to guide them throughout their learning process and provide support or advice on their performance.
   3. Language resource – we shouldn’t be the source and center of knowledge, but it’s a must that we have a sound knowledge of our subject matter.

1. I’d love to work in a language center where CLT is the prominent teaching approach along with the “cherry picking” approach or otherwise known principled eclecticism. Since I’m a tech-lover, I’d also love to be surrounded by cutting edge ed-tech tools.
2. The first activity that got my learners extremely involved was a board game, which I designed for my last TP. Students were rolling the dice and had to practice the second conditional. So many funny ideas. The second activity was a pair discussion about their favourite singer.  As for the third activity, which is my favourite, I get learners in pairs to think of questions that they need to ask me so to get information about a story.  They are only allowed to ask Yes / No questions! So much fun!
3. I prefer finger correction and peer correction. I usually use finger correction to help my learners visualize a grammatical error. As for peer correction, it takes place throughout the lesson and aids learners’ autonomy.
4.  I am currently using the PPP method, mainly because it is divided in three stages and helps learners to assimilate the target items. However, it seems to me that many learners fail to transfer their acquired knowledge to real-life situations, so I’m also seeking for another, more effective way of teaching grammar. Any suggestions??? 🙂
5. Hmmm another difficult question, but here they are:  www.busyteacher.org , www.eslgold.com and www.onestopenglish.com
6. No, I don’t seem to share the same passion as people of my age do. I don’t like online games!
7. No twitter account sorry!  I guess I don’t like it because it reminds of Tweety. You know, I am cat lover and always felt pity for that poor old fluffy, Silvestro. However, it seems that Twitter is gaining more ground than ever in the ELT community so it is only wise that I create an account.
8. I’ve got three words in my mind: CPD – Continuing Professional Development. I’m really keen on my advancement in the ELT field. I want to become a teacher trainer and ELT materials writer one day!
9. Well, I’d talk about songs and their benefits in an ELT setting. But wait a sec, I just did! On 15^th March, I presented at the 35^th International TESOL Convention. The title was: “Hit Learners with Music! They feel No pain!”. I’ll blog about it in the days to come!
10. Yes. I’ve recently created my own official blog. The link is: http://lalostheodore.wordpress.com/                                               Another blog of mine which is mainly concerned with posts about the different topics tested in TKT: KAL can be found here: http://lalostheodore.edublogs.org/

The bloggers to be tagged are:

1. Vaggelis Chrm
2. Panayiota Vlahopoulou
3. Ola Bakri
4. Kelly Vraka
5. Ioni Maki
6. Xrysanthi Papatzanaki
7. Daniel Tiutiun
8. Pedro Montrois
9. Maria Margie Angelis
10. Alexander Makarios
11. George Vassilakis

Bloggers, it’s your turn:

1. Have you taught abroad? If not, would you be interested in doing so?
2. Which teaching approach / method do you favour the most?
3. How do you usually teach a grammatical structure?
4. How do you select a coursebook?
5. What are the prominent roles of a teacher in the classroom?
6. What do you think of songs as a teaching tool?
7. Are you aware of LyricsTraining.com? Do you use it in the classroom?
8. How often do you reflect on your lessons?
9. Have you taken up a new course to help you develop professionally?
10. What’s your greatest ambition?
11. What will you be doing in 10 years’ time?