It’s been 26 days since my world shut down. It’s been far longer for others. It began slowly. Back, in January, news of an unknown virus in China reached us here in Europe. I barely took
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Love in the Time of Coronavirus
With coronavirus currently decimating the travel industry, it’s a good time to write about my life as an international teacher instead. I don’t write frequently, because I can't travel full-time like I'd hoped I would
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Exciting News: I’m Moving to India!
Judging by the response that I have received from various people to this news, you probably fall into one of the following categories: “India?! Are you crazy?” or “Wow! What an amazing experience!” If I’m
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The Life of an International School Teacher
7 months ago I wrote the post ‘Goodbye Classroom, Hello World!’ because I was taking a break from teaching in order to travel. Now I reflect on the profession that I have temporarily left behind.
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Goodbye Classroom, Hello World!
Four years ago I was in an auditorium in Vietnam alongside my teaching colleagues and we were listening to a lecture that only served to strengthen my already iron-clad resolve to travel. I don’t think
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Snow Days
Anybody who has attended or worked in a school in the UK will know how exciting it is when the winter brings the first snow, not so much because we love snow but because of
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Why English?
Every year our organisation runs a competition in which the students write an essay in English about a given topic, last year's topic was Science based. This year, students were asked to explore the question
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Fika Fridays – Swedish Cake Break!
Anybody who knows me will know that Fridays are my favourite day of the week. I love Fridays. Not because the weekend begins or even that I only work for 2 hours, but because Friday
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Don’t Stop BIS-lieving!
This is my tribute to my friends at BIS, the school I worked in during my time in Vietnam. It's good to remember the fun times :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NULMiA9z8U
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Lest We Forget – Remembering The Fallen
Poppy placed at 'Hellfire Pass', Thailand "Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them." Today is Remembrance Day: a
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Fancy Dress Friday
Yesterday was the last day of an incredibly long half-term and what better way to celebrate than with a fancy dress day at school? The first time I used the phrase 'fancy dress' with Nicklas
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One Hel’ of a Weekend – the staff social.
In my opinion, one of the best things about teaching internationally is the sense of comraderie that develops amongst your work colleagues. This seems to be very different from the UK when everybody already has
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The Tie that Binds.
The new teacher orientation week at my new school went pretty much as expected. We were introduced to various policies, systems and schemes of work; and informed about the usual array of Special Educational Needs
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Free Education
For the first time in a teaching career that spans almost a decade (eek!) I am about to enter an educational system that is not that of the UK. For the first time ever I
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A Tribute to the Top Table
School staff rooms can be funny places. Remember those days when you were at school, walking past the staff room - that most sacred and hallowed sanctuary of the teachers - hearing a distant buzz
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Back to School
The phrase that every teacher (and student) dreads the most is: Back to School. Probably because these 3 words are usually splashed across every shop window and inside every supermarket aisle about 2 days after
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