Stay Healthy the key to Success

I believe it is so important that you as the teacher maintain your health in as
good condition as possible. Teaching requires a good amount of energy and
vitality to be sharp and on your toes. If you are feeling under par all the time it's
difficult to keep you energy level up and deliver a winning entertaining class.
As a teacher you are a servant to the students. You can give your best service
only if your physical and mental health is not a liability but an asset.
So staying in shape or getting in shape, if you are not already there, eating
mostly nourishing healthy foods (OK there will be times when you'll want to
indulge in some questionable foods), getting the right amount of exercise and
enough sleep is very important.
This is true especially if you are going to a foreign country. It pays to stay as
healthy as possible. Why bother with all the rigmarole of doctors and hospitals
when just a little preventive medicine will keep you well.
So here are my Seven Secrets to Optimal Health. (I may soon be writing an
eBook with this title.) The following is just an outline and the complete
discussion would be too extensive to go into an eBook such as this.
1. Elimination
Make sure you are eliminating at least once a day. Improper bowel function has
been linked to scores of diseases including cancer and heart disease. This is
ancient wisdom your great grandma knew but has been lost in our modern
"scientific" medicine. Vegetables, some fruit and whole grains and fermented
foods like yogurt, cheese and sauerkraut are necessary daily to help maintain
good regularity.
2. Hydration
This means water and teas, maybe a little fresh fruit and vegetable juice. Not
Coke and sugary soft drinks or lots of canned fruit juice. Read Your Body’s
Many Cried For Water by Dr. Batmanghelidj, M.D. to find out about the new
research being done on how dehydration can cause all kinds of disease.
3. Oxygenation
See that you are breathing deeply enough on a regular basis from the gut
rather than short breaths from the chest. Daily walks and exercise and
breathing exercises are all beneficial to help maintain health and a positive
outlook. Get some info about special breathing exercises that has origins in
India called Pranayama. A quick search on the Internet will show you the many
sites about this ancient practice.
4. Nutrition / Supplementation
Eat right, eat whole foods. Chicken, fish, meat and eggs some cheese, yogurt
and natural fats and oils (not hydrogenated oils), all good for you. Multivitamin
and minerals should be a standard everyday thing to make sure you get
everything you need.
5. Recreation/Relaxation
Daily exercise, at least 15-30 minutes of walking or floor exercises, Yoga, all
that. Mix it up. Don't stick to the same boring routine. Get enough sleep. Set
aside time for the day to relax and be lazy. Other times just get away from it all
and retire to some quiet place to recharge your batteries.
6. Meditation / Prayer
It doesn't matter what religion you are or even if you are an atheist. It's been
scientifically proven that those who have some kind of meditation and/or
prayer routine are healthier, happier, more relaxed and open-minded. Start with
20 minutes a day, then do that twice a day, then extend it to maybe even 45
minutes to an hour. It's especially beneficial in the evening before bed.
7. Education
Educate yourself about health. For me it's been a lifelong process of reading
and studying and trying things and discovering what works best for me. New
information is always coming out, new things being discovered.
Nourishing Traditions by Susan Fallon is one of the best books I've read on
overall nutrition. It's also a cookbook with great recipes. I would also get
Patient Heal Thyself and The Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin.

Teaching Success key/be Flexible

Be Flexible
Sometimes, depending on the mood of the class for that day, I'll completely
throw out my lesson plan and do something different. Sometimes I can tell the
class is just not in the mood to do what I've planned.
So in my commitment to keep the class interesting and not bore the students I
shift gears and just do something else. It's a kind of flying-by-the-seat-of-your
pants thing just to see where you land.
Sometimes the students want to know more about me so I let them ask me
questions. When that peters out I start on something else
I believe it's important to be flexible in all areas of life. Things are less stressful
that way. As you already know, things don't always go the way you planned or
expected.

So I think it's a good practice to accept things as they come along. Change the
things that can be changed, accept and work with the things that can't.
Wisdom is in knowing the difference. (That's from one of those proverbs. I
worded it a little differently.)
Living in a foreign country requires you to take on a certain amount of flexibility
and is key to survival and enjoying a different culture.
Now this might sound a little crazy but one of the best ways to be flexible in
mind is to be flexible in body. If your body is rigid and stiff chances are so will
be your thinking.

Take some Yoga classes or get a book on Yoga. Have some kind of regular
regimen so you can maintain a healthy flexible body. This will help you maintain
calmness and serenity through some of the slings and arrows life throws at
you.
And I believe will help you be a more balanced and vigorous teacher.

Put Together a Winning Lesson Plan for Success

Some schools make it easy for you. They already have everything figured out
about how and what to teach the students. The system is already set up and
you just plug right into it and go.
That's why, as we previously discussed, it's important before you go into any
teaching situation to find out what's expected of you.
But even if the school has the whole thing laid out for you it's good to not go
into class empty-handed. In other words, come in with your own ideas about
what and how to get through to your students.
I've been fortunate in that all of my teaching situations I have had to rely on my
own skills and creativity to come up my own lesson plans.
What I do...
I usually start each of my classes with a few minutes of conversation just to
get them warmed up and settled down after the break. Our classes are small
so I try to get everyone to say something.
The important thing is you gotta keep the class interesting, you gotta keep it
moving.
I've found that the best thing is to go into class with many different things to
do. I may not get to all of them, usually don't.
And sometimes an interesting topic for conversation might come up at the
beginning of class that might segue in something deeper or into other topics.
And I wind up not even getting to any of the material I'd planned! (This is where
it's important to be flexible which we'll discuss later.)
Now the above was for intermediate to advanced. Obviously, in beginner level
you're mainly working on grammar and pronunciation and basic vocabulary so
you may be limited in your opportunity to have any kind of deep conversation.
I teach three levels: beginner to advanced. I have what I call my bag of ESL
tricks that I reach into to plan my lessons.
They include:
• conversation,
• grammar,
• idiomatic expressions,
• reading and discussing short articles or stories,
• vocabulary building,
• dictation,
• practice TOEFL tests and discussion,
• essay writing,
• playing games (even for adults),
• watching movies,
• studying poetry.
Having a variety of and ready resources to choose from will never leave you
feeling stranded and wondering “what the heck do I do now.”
Keep your eyes and ears open. The great things about teaching English is that
there are infinite resources everywhere and more is added to the vast ESL
“databank” each day.

Get Clear on What's Expected of You As the Teacher

It's important when you are in a new environment to find as much safety as
possible so you can feel secure and not have so much stress.
You know, moving to another country or even traveling to another country
involves a certain amount of stress. So you want to mitigate that by making
sure you know just what it is that's expected of you as the teacher.
You might want to ask some questions so you can be prepared as much as
possible before you take your first step into your new school environment:
• How many classes will you be teaching?
• How many students in each class?
• What are the age groups?
• If you are teaching adults you might want to know what kinds of materials
you are expected to use.
• Will you be teaching grammar, conversation?
• What does the school like to focus on? (For example at my school although
we do grammar and such we mainly focus on conversation.)
• Will you have to do student evaluations?
• Does the school run on the semester, quarter or no system at all? (I work in
the latter system which means I have to create all of my lesson plans and
choose all of my own books.)
• If you are teaching kids you might want to know what socio-economic
background they are from.
• What about class discipline? Is this a problem in the country you will be
going into? (I understand that kids in Japan are very polite and shy and
give very little trouble in class.)
You might want to find out something about the culture you are going into:
• How do they think.
• What are their values?
• What’s their system of government?
What I'm saying is don't go in cold. Know the environment you are going into
as much as possible. Of course, don't go overboard on this and get obsessed.
You want a certain element of adventure and surprise too.

Keys to Success Keep a Journal

2. Keep a Journal
I've heard it said, "If your life is worth living it's worth recording." I've kept a
journal for many years and I go through spurts when I write in it almost
everyday to times when I may write only once or twice a month.
Off the top of your head...
The trick is to write spontaneously without stopping and thinking about it. (I
recommend The Artists's Way by Julie Cameron to get great instruction on
this.)
But recently I started doing something that I am going to recommend to you.
You see I keep more than one journal. I keep my personal journal in which I
record my thoughts feelings ideas brainstorms and dreams and goals. I also
keep a separate journal in the classroom.
After each class (and sometimes during) I write in ideas, comments, questions,
ways to improve as a teacher, what we worked on in that lesson, things I can
do to help the students, etc.
This has proven to be invaluable for me and has added a unique dimension
to my teaching.

Teaching Success How to Pack

How to pack
They say that the best thing to do when packing is to lay out everything and cut
it in half.

Take one bag with a shoulder strap and maybe a small carry-on for the plane (I
use a little rucksack for this). Take some medium toned to dark clothing so it
doesn't show dirt and stains and a pair of dress slacks or skirt (for the ladies)
and a nice medium to dark-colored shirt or blouse.

A good pair of shoes is of utmost importance.

The best universal good looking shoes are the Rockport Pro Walkers. These
are by far the best shoes I have ever owned. I have a pair that are over 10
years old and are still in decent condition despite the fact that I wore them
almost everyday for about 8 of those years. I bought another pair last year.
If you are going to be teaching ESL for a few months or more in a foreign
country you can always buy what you need there. (Unless of course you are tall
or extra big, which might pose a problem.)

You probably will go back home with more than you brought so you want to
leave room in your suitcase anyway. Heck, you might even have to buy a new
suitcase to carry back all that stuff you bought!

Tips to Success Travel Light

1. Travel Light
If you are going overseas or traveling anywhere, one of the hardest lessons to
learn is that it's more advantageous to travel light.
What does travel light mean? Three heavy bags and a rucksack?
Well, some people may think so. But really when it comes to travel less is
definitely more.
How many times have you taken a trip and realized that in the middle or at the
end that you didn't need to take all the shirts and pants and shoes and books
and knick-knacks that you thought were a good idea when packing? It just
weighed you down.
I remember one time when I went to Spain I thought I was traveling light by only
bringing a knapsack. Well, I stuffed that thing full and when I got to my
destination at a friend's home in Sevilla I realized I had brought too much
stuff.
So what did I do? I went through it all and just took out the necessities and
packed the rest of it in a box and sent it back home. I was in for a shock when I
after I having lugged it all the way to the post office they were gonna charge me
$60.
"Are you sure it's gonna cost that much?" I exclaimed in my best Spanish. The
woman behind the counter assured me it would. What the heck I sent it
anyway.
I could've saved myself the trouble by not packing all that stuff in the first place.