A year of big changes!

2018 is coming to an end and so I've realised it's been a year of big changes in many ways. 

Academically - I feel really satisfied with all the learning done this year! In my last post I shared I had started the IH London Diploma in Academic Management and well, I finished it in Aug and got a Distinction, so I couldn't be more pleased. It was hard but a rewarding experience and I learnt lots both from my tutor Maureen McGarvey and my classmates.

I also completed a few very interesting MOOCS: Culture of Services: A New Perspective on Customer Relations with EdXand the University of Kyoto. It was a real help during the IH London Diploma above.

The next course was a Udemy online course: Become a SuperLearner2: Speed Reading and Boost your Memory, which I enjoyed a lot too.

And the last one, also online, by Trinity College London - Excellent in Education: Quest for the Best: Teaching and Learning Vocabulary which I also enjoyed a lot. There were lots of interesting materials and the tutor, James Easton, was excellent too! 

I've started learning Basque while taking advantage of the fact that it is widely spoken here in my new town and that people are so friendly and patient when I try to practice everywhere I go. It's going to take a long time as it is truly difficult a language, but I love it and am determined to learn as much as I can and use it as much as possible too!  In also resumed French lessons at work so I couldn't be happier a man - I love languages and having a job that allows me to learn then and use them is a blessing! I've been actively using Memrise, Quizlet and following a couple of YouTubers (Eskera Satorra) to keep up with my learning curve!

My next academic adventure is the new Going Mobile Online Course by TheConsultants-e.com running from 1-20 Feb 2019! Nicky and Gavin's book Going Mobile is a great resource in the classroom already so I can't wait to start this course. Also, I'm seriously considering doing a PhD in Education and so that's in the back burner for the moment. I'm really thankful to my last MA tutor at the University of Nottingham, Cecilia Goria for her support and encouragement at this stage!

Personally - ups and downs family-wise but Thank God everything back to normal now. I also left my previous post as Academic Manager at GIGA IH Catania where I was for 8.5 years to join Lacunza IH in the Basque Country as Director/Team Leader Goierri Area at Lacunza IH Beasain. I learnt tons at GIGA and had a very productive time there, but it was time to move on to face new challenges!

I've resumed running and going to the fantastic gym here in my new town too so I'm really excited about all the new and positive aspects of our new life here!

ICT-wise - I continue to experiment and explore tech tools for the classroom so my blogging will resume shortly too!

Genyally - it's simply great

I came across Genially just recently thorugh a Twitter post by Nick Peachey and I simnply loved it. I think it's got a lot of potential for presenting information in a nice and visual way for our students.  Nick's great Genially presentation on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs here (there are links to Nick's social media at the end of the presentation) is a wonderful example of how you can use it.

I have now created a Teacher account and will start exploring it asap as I can see it can be very useful for me as a teacher trainer and learner myself. I'll keep you posted as I'll report soon on how I use it while reviewing it from a teacher's point of view.