Back to the classroom!

By Pete on July 9, 2023 • ( 2 )

My year as a freelance writer is over. I’m really looking forward to a return to the classroom next month. Here’s what I’ve been up to since last August, and a bit about what’s happening next.

Freelancing

I finished my EAL role last June (see here if interested). I decided to do a year of freelance materials writing / consultancy so I could take on some bigger projects.

I had one particular project on my radar, and I got it – a Lead Author role for an IGCSE ESL project (see here if interested). That took up a lot of my time, but there have been plenty of other projects on the go.

I finished up my work with Cambridge University Press and Assessment on the National Foreign Language Project in Vietnam. We produced guidelines for embedding formative assessment strategies in Primary/Secondary classrooms across the country. This was a really rewarding project, with (I hope) real impact. It was my first time collaborating with TransformELT too. Loved it. The project also gave me the chance to improve my public speaking skills, which was a daunting experience (see here if interested).

I’ve worked with TransformELT on another project this year. We ran a mentoring programme for ELT professionals in the MENA region (in collaboration with the British Council). That involved delivering live sessions plus a WhatsApp mentoring phase – that was a new experience for me. I worked with some awesome people on this project – Katie Kelly and Dr Harry Kuchah to name a couple. Great experience and fascinating to learn from the participants about teaching and learning in their contexts.

I kept up my work with Ellii. I love writing for them. I worked on plenty more Discussion Starter lessons, and added a few more Academic Vocabulary lessons to their offer too.

I also did some further work with Hatriqa – the Football English specialists. They are always great to work with, and Nicole Elliot is such an awesome editor.

I got my first paid gig with OUP. It was great to know that is doable, although the project ended up not being the right fit. Next time!

All in all, that was more than enough for me. I had a few other offers for work, but I didn’t want to burn out – lots of new things to learn in each project, so they required quite a bit of focus.

Next up

I always knew I was going back into the classroom for 2023/24. During the months Jan-March I was busy with job applications. It was a long-winded process, but was also really useful to learn more about what different schools in my region (and beyond) offer and value. I learnt a lot about the intensive English programmes on offer – see here and here for some thoughts on those.

I had some super cool job offers – I was genuinely surprised to get offered leadership roles in EAL. Some were really tempting. In the end, I took up an offer from an awesome school in Kuala Lumpur. They stood out the moment I read about them. The school ethos, the management, the commitment to EAL, they ticked every box. Plus… one of my colleagues will be Adrienn Szlapak (EAL Diaries)! I have the chance to work closely with Adri next year and to help develop an EAL programme across the school. Adri and I have been collaborating a lot this year on an EAL-related project and I’m REALLY excited to start working with her.

Overall, I enjoyed a brief stint as a full-time writer (although it was a bit lacking in staffroom camaraderie!). I might return to it at some point, but I miss teaching too much to be out the classroom. Teaching with a bit of writing on the side suits me better I think – it keeps my writing much more connected to the classroom.