Tyson Seburn's Blog, page 4
December 24, 2016
Tis the season
I suppose from some perspectives, I have been a but bah-humbug this year. It partly stems from wanting to remove myself as much as possible from the commercial traditions placed upon us. That just doesn’t seem to mean anything to me, particularly given 2016. Professionally, I tried to come up with a list of ten [...]
November 22, 2016
Who do you think you are?
Who are you? Tyson Seburn. Scorpio? Tiger? Philosophy major? I used to think so. TESL Toronto President? Conference organiser? Writer? Grad student? I was once. Canadian? Author? EAP instructor? TDSIG peep? Yes, this guy exists.
What is your teaching philosophy? Ugggh. That one’s the worst.
I’ve questioned my identity a lot, [...]
July 25, 2016
A love letter to teacher associations
I’ve rewritten a love letter of sorts to TESL Toronto (a teacher association committee I’m leaving after 6 years) three times from three different angles and voices. There’s much I want to say to different groups involved, but no one focus conveys my intentions vividly enough. I think it’s because no matter what words I use [...]
April 29, 2016
Year-end teacher development & feedback activities
For many of us, the academic year has come or is coming to a close and with that the busyness of wrapping up meetings, grading, and making difficult decisions. Yet amidst this organised chaos, uniting a course’s team of teachers for professional development and curriculum debrief best happens here while the year is fresh in our minds. [...]
April 26, 2016
Hashtags for writing practice (other skills too, likely)
On the Friday evening of IATEFL not long ago, I led a Pecha Kucha session on this stage with the enormous screen. Initially when the crowd was arriving, it was nerve-wracking, but once I got on stage, it was pretty invigorating, I must admit.
After all the media attention and fan letters died down, a [...]
April 1, 2016
This standardised test is 100% infallible
Just kidding. There’s no such thing. Happy April Fools’ Day.
January 3, 2016
my (little) reflective journey today
For me, the end of a calendar year and the beginning of the next comes a distant second to the beginning and ends of academic years in opportunity for reflection and goal-setting. I may be in the minority that way, but a different type of reflection organically comes then: one of classroom-based pedagogy. Having said [...]
November 23, 2015
ARC: Context is important
What are you doing, Superman?!
Yes, that’s what I first thought too. I’m sure we’re not alone. You, however, didn’t stop there I bet. You tried to figure out another explanation for what Superman could be doing.
Given what we know about Superman and his adventures, we know he’s not trying to defeat the villain with his [...]
August 10, 2015
My not-so-ELT podcast playlist… #nerd
Last fall, I was walking through Cabbagetown with Lou towards Riverdale Park West, a wide open space with four baseball diamonds where people not only play ball, but also cricket, do yoga, have picnics, and let their dogs run off-leash freely and quickly. I’d come there weekly for some time, walking the perimeter three or [...]
June 3, 2015
The evolution of ARC
Nearly three years have passed since I wrote about academic reading circles here, the last being in September 2012 on the Visualiser role. I didn’t realise then that five posts on ARC would collectively build an online audience of nearly 5000 views. Looking back at the first ARC post ever, I had little intention of this activity [...]
