Doubly special day, doubly special wishes!

Dear Reader,

In keeping with the frankly inescapable-these-days Christmas mood, imagine me as your Dickensian ghost of Christmas past:

*I could have chosen a slightly more intellectual adaptation of A Christmas Carol, but I think we both know I was always going to go with the Muppets.*

Why? Because I'm writing this email on Thursday, 18 December, and at this time, I'm still technically a year younger. But once you receive my missive, I will have turned one year older.

Oh, how time flies: you teach a little class, grade a little mountain of papers, have a little breakdown thinking you'll never get to the end of the year (but then you do), and before you know it, it's the end of yet another year. For me, the end of the school year before the Christmas break has always coincided with my birthday, which is also very close to the end of the calendar year, so... all in all, a true time of reckoning.

My mom always said this is a good time to look back and take stock, especially for me. I tend to agree, but only partially: before looking back and taking stock, I think today is a wonderful day to let our hair down, enjoy whatever food or drink is a treat for us¹ and take a few long breaths. Pausing for a little while to savour the lovely prospect of a few days off is, to me, even more pleasant than the days off themselves (although please give me the days off too otherwise how else am I going to stave off the aforementioned mental breakdowns).

In the spirit of looking back, taking stock and looking forward, I have two things for you today:

5 lessons I've learned this year, plus a few things I'm rubbish at/I need to improve
an end-of-year promotion on a bundle I'm retiring, and some news about the oral exam preparation

Got your coffee? Got your pandoro? Let's get going! 🌱

Preparing for the oral exam: end of an era, start of a new era (and a promo in between)

As more good news comes to light about the minimum threshold to access the concorso oral exams, I have been working hard to answer the question: how can I best support you as you prepare for the new oral exam?

I collected your feedback (for which I thank all of you who completed my survey!) and I have come up with what I think is going to be an effective programme.

For the oral exam, you need to prepare 2 things: the domande disciplinari and the lesson plan. With the experience of the last few concorsi, my team and I now know a lot more about what committees expect and how to pass the exam.

Based on this, in the new year, you will be able to prepare with a 3-part programme - and you can pick and choose the parts you want:

Domande disciplinari self-study bundle. This will include 3 fairly intensive courses on: literature and history, culture, and all things language teaching methods/EU policy-related. 🎯 The goal: to get all the knowledge you need for the domande disciplinari.
Updated and expanded lesson planning course (live + recordings). A new edition of the lesson planning course, now complete with examples from PNRR1 and PNRR2, laws in English, ESP, civic education topics and much more. 🎯 The goal: to learn how to plan and present a successful lesson plan.
Small-group and individual workshops. A packed calendar of workshops and classes in small groups where you can practise answering the domande disciplinari, putting together a lesson plan, presenting it... and much more. My personal favourites: discussing laws in English (admittedly a niche interest, but a useful one based on what you told me) and planning together. 🎯 The goal: to put your knowledge and skills into practice.

All of this is starting in the new year.

But what if you wanted to start studying now, during the Christmas holidays? Well, the good news is you can enrol in the self-study bundle and get a head start. The bundle, which now includes 7 courses, is available now; however, to make space for the new preparation programme, I'm going to retire the self-study bundle in the new year.

That means the bundle will no longer be available for new purchases, but if you have purchased it before, you will *of course* still be able to access your courses.

If you want to get before it's no longer available, you can use discount code UNDERTHETREE25 to get a 25% discount on all 7 courses.

Use your discount

You can use the discount on the monthly bundle or on the unlimited access forever. The discount code expires on 4 January and the self-study bundle will retire soon after to make space for the new updated programme.

🔔 More news about the new programme coming soon!

Lessons I've learned in this year of life

Going back to the core purpose for which I am stealing your precious time on this blessed Sunday morning: what have I learned from this year of living and working?

One year older, five important lessons under my belt:

1. Trying to be kind ≠ being a good teacher

Hold on, hold on: I'm not saying we shouldn't be kind. I wish people were kinder. What I'm saying is this year, I've worked with a few vulnerable students, and I was so afraid of upsetting them that without realising, I started under-correcting them (if there is such a thing, but you get the gist). But the truth is students expect to get feedback, and if we abdicate that responsibility, we're not only doing them a disservice but also inadvertently conveying that we don't expect that much from them.

2. Less can be more

It's a cliché for a reason: it's true. This year, I've quite literally let entire lessons I had planned get sidetracked by what students felt were more pressing issues. I had never leaned into it that way before, always feeling that somehow, I had to retain control and teach at least a little of the lesson I had planned. But the truth is, the lesson I had planned wasn't going anywhere (and hey, it saved me planning for the following lesson!), and I still haven't found a better reason for communicating than wanting to discuss something pressing. If students want to discuss something, that's probably a good sign that they'll self-motivate and peer motivate to speak.

3. Teaching teachers is a true honour

I've been doing this work for years now, in different capacities, and this year it really dawned on me that teaching teachers is such a blessing. Speak Better Teach Better was a higlight of my year and it brought me in contact with insightful teachers who expanded my views on education. I feel privileged to have daily contacts with hundreds and hundreds of teachers, whom I learn from probably more than they learn from me.

4. Putting myself in my learners' shoes goes a long way

Some people say that language teachers who have learned a foreign language themselves make better teachers because they can relate to their learners' difficulties. This year, at one point I realised I had long forgotten the struggle of learning English, but I really shouldn't have. This happened because I tried my hand at a few things that were new to me and this left me wondering: is this sense of awkward inadequacy what my students feel when I nonchalantly ask them to speak? Boy oh boy. It really pays off to walk a mile in someone else's shoes every once in a while!

5. Communicative teaching is not always the best teaching

Controversial, right? If you know me, you know I've long talked about how research says we learn languages and how to best promote that in the classroom (respectively: by using them, and by giving students real communicative tasks). But I had to eat my words a little bit this year when I was faced with a class of students, many of whom had gone through traumatic experiences. I noticed that the "communicative" approach I often use, with tasks and a lot of spontaneous speaking, simply didn't work. So I introduced more structure, a more gradual approach with more "lecture-style" teaching, and what do you know, those students slowly opened up. It's still a work in progress, but it was a humbling experience that reminded me that students' expectations can be far more influential than what can look like "good teaching" from the outside. Speaking of trauma-informed pedagogy, and especially if you work with refugee-background students, you might like to read a bit of this booklet from Aleks Palanac and colleagues. Some very important points made, including about not forcing personalisation activities (i.e. activities in which students have to discuss their personal lives and life histories. Not ideal for students who have been through trauma).

Bonus: things I’m rubbish at I need to improve

We wouldn't want to be too upbeat, now, would we? So if I look back, I realise I need to do the following (2 out of 3 are real, take your guess):

stop getting sick when I'm supposed to give a lecture. It was pointed out to me that my timing in getting ill with coughs is not ideal and it affects the viewing experience. With a toddler, a.k.a. a germ factory, at home, there's not much I can do about this, but what I can do is beef up on vitamins (?)² to strengthen my immune system, hoping the next cough comes at a less inopportune time³.
manage expectations better. If people know what's coming, they're more unlikely to be surprised by, well, what comes. I need to devote more attention to anticipating what's coming and communicating it to students/teachers/miscellaneous stakeholders.
speak. more. slowly. I've been aware of this for a while and have tried to do exercises to speak more consciously to help my students and listeners, but there's still room for improvement. If you have any tips that have worked for you, send them my way!

We have now come to the end of this Sunday's newsletter. What are some things you've learned this year? And what are some things you need to improve?

Before I go: my dear teacher, I hope you have the cosiest, most relaxing and restorative holiday season. Happy Christmas if you celebrate it, and happy downtime regardless. I will be taking a few days off, so replies to emails will be slow, but I promise I'll be back soon.

Take care, dear teacher ✨

¹ Personally, black olive paté, aubergine parmigiana and a latte (i.e. really what we call a cappuccino in Italy but four times as big and without cocoa powder). And no, not all three at the same time, because I love the UK but I draw the line at drinking cappuccino with my food.

² Although it doesn't look like that's going to conclusively solve the issue.

³ You might laugh about this, and I would understand, but this sort of "why did you post a free lesson if you can be heard coughing" complaint is real and it is the sort of thing that makes me want to go:

P.S.: My weekly suggestion for things to listen to/watch/read to improve your English while relaxing: I might very well write a whole future newsletter on this because of how funny, realistic and well written this series is: Abbott Elementary. You know how most TV series and films about schools don't really reflect the realities of schools? Well, forget all that and watch Abbott Elementary. I really don't think you'll regret it (though please no spoilers because I'm only on season 2!)

✨Cool things I heard this week

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