About Troika Xperience
Every year, they organise a special event called Troika Xperience, an online conference with the Troika ethos. There are round tables, micro-courses and webinars. And it was through teacher friend and SYSWC member, Talita, that I had the chance to co-present a webinar at this brilliant event. It did not take long to decide what we wanted to share with the Troika community: We chose to talk about sharing stories and diversity.
Read MoreCapturing Ideas in Photos
There are many ways to capture and share your observations of the world: not only on paper, but also through film and photos.
Photos. Cameras. A seperate flash. These all seem so old school and very much relics of the past. Yet, they seem so familiar and worthy of re-discovery.
And that’s what we will be doing this month - dusting off an old technology, locating important data hidden within and re-interpreting it for a modern audience.
Read MoreGetting Back To Teaching Creative Reading & Writing
Due to the arrival of my daughter 2 years ago, and the Pandemic, my regular English language teaching practice all but disappeared. It’s only been since the beginning of the year that I have started back again, but only with one private student at a time.
Read MoreGetting Started With Creative Writing
Typically, before creative writing comes non-creative writing for most of us. Certainly when we learn and teach a language, listening and speaking takes precedence over reading and writing. And even when we get to writing itself, we tend to begin with formal styles and later focus on academic versions.
Read MoreGrowing Stories
In order to grow stories we need seeds of inspiration and a practice that allows us to capture that inspiration.
If we dig deep into the heart of our favourite stories we find that certain elements resonate with us. You know the situations and phrases I mean - the ones that lead us to nod our heads and smirk in agreement with what we have read? What makes those elements so satisfying and special? Well, they contain specific details that reflect certain aspects of our own lives, helping us make real-life connections with the text, which in turn allows us to enjoy the story. Those small, quirky details link the story world with our real world creating a wonderful, immersive experience. In this way, seeds of inspiration, and the key to successful stories, are rooted in our every day interactions.
Read MoreAbout the Book
Beyond Expectations is an 80-page short story about one person’s reflections before, during and after 6 days walking on the Camino Portugues. The Camino is a pilgrimage to northwest Spain undertaken by people from all around the world, on their own, with family or friends.
Read MoreAbout the Club
The aim is to build confidence around reading and writing in English, and a sense of community among the Club members. The focus is on developing analytical skills through reading and discussing short stories, and practising creative writing skills by mirroring the structures we encounter. By deconstructing the creative process we carve out space for inspiration, to generate ideas and tease those ideas into something truly wonderful.
Read MoreThe Importance of Play
There is a belief that play is only something children do, and that it is certainly not for adults. Yet, there are so many benefits to it, I believe there is a lot we older folk can learn by adding some play into our everyday lives. Indeed, taking time out to play allows us to switch off the logical side of our brain for a while and simply be imaginative. This so-called right-brain thinking frees us to think outside the box, and in doing so, come up with new ideas and possible solutions to problems.
Read MoreMy Twist On A Tale 2020
My Twist On A Tale is an annual competition organised by the publisher Pearson, that provides an opportunity for British schoolchildren to write their own stories. The theme for 2020 was Everyday Heroes, and participants were encouraged to write about those people who made a difference to them, especially during the lockdown period.
Read MoreTalita’s CW Experience
Having previously invited community members to introduce themselves through text, I thought an alternative way to get to know each other better, would be through video. This time we will be hearing from participants in the online course in creative writing that I designed for my Master’s dissertation project last summer. And here we have Talita!
Read MoreMila’s CW Experience
Having previously invited community members to introduce themselves through text, I thought an alternative way to get to know each other better, would be through video. This time we will be hearing from participants in the online course in creative writing that I designed for my Master’s dissertation project last summer. Second up is Mila!
Read MoreJournaling
The act of journaling - a way to tell your own story and reflect on that story - is quite radical. It’s radical because in this day and age, where everything we do is about speed and efficiency, and must absolutely be short/brief/compact, who has the luxury of time to journal?
Read MoreAnna’s CW Experience
Having previously invited community members to introduce themselves through text, I thought an alternative way to get to know each other better, would be through video. This time we will be hearing from participants in the online course in creative writing that I designed for my Master’s dissertation project last summer. First up is Anna!
Read MoreAbout the Club:
It’s common to want to find people ‘like you’. Indeed, wanting to meet and interact with like-minded people, those interested in cultivating creative habits, was one of the big reasons why I set up this community. And while creating posts, sending newsletters and making comments are great ways to initiate dialogue, establishing relationships and turning infrequent chat into a sustained conversation, requires a different type of facilitation. Hence my proposal of a mix of online ‘live’ and self-paced activities that bring us together to practice and improve creative writing skills. My plan is to use diverse and inclusive materials as used as a springboard for deeper conversation and inspiration to write and share stories. What do you think?
Read MoreTeaching English in China
Moving to China was such an eye-opener for so many reasons, not least the understanding of the high position of teachers in society as well as those who had moved there from abroad. You see, foreigners were, at least then, called ‘foreign experts’, a label I was surprised to receive given I had only recently graduated with my CELTA certificate. Surely I had very limited expertise to share. But there it was, officially stamped into my passport.
Read MoreAll About Women In Language
Having just celebrated International Women’s Day, it reminds me just how far we are from gender equality, and therefore the absolute necessity to raise up and actively support women in all industries and in all locations. Maybe that’s why the Women in Language conference appealed to me, as they specifically champion and amplify female, trans and non-binary voices in language. 35 speakers talking on a broad range of language topics sounded appealing.
Read MoreStructure vs. Creativity
Is there structure and form within creativity? Or is being creative all about natural talent, freedom and not following the rules?
Read MoreWhat is The Power Hour?
Having recently discovered the high value of creativity in both personal and professional fields, I set myself a challenge last week to find some “me” time for creative acts, such as reading and writing. And it was just by chance that I came across this book, the Power Hour by Adrienne Herbert, which suggests waking up early every day to indulge in a full hour of whatever your heart so desires in order to achieve your personal goals. It sounded great, so I bought the book and got stuck in!n Robinson, and his famous TedTalk entitled, Do Schools Kill Creativity? It’s very popular and I’m sure you’ve seen it!
Read MoreWhat is Creativity?
For me, when I am trying to find something out, or wanting to understand something better, I like to look up a few examples and then compare them in order to to make sure I am on the right track. So, the first person that comes to mind when I think about creativity is Sir Ken Robinson, and his famous TedTalk entitled, Do Schools Kill Creativity? It’s very popular and I’m sure you’ve seen it!
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