Newsletter 2022#09

Good morning
 

I guess the world is still in a pretty awful place, but I just wanted to say such a big and heartfelt 'thank you' to those of you who wrote to me last week.  I was completely overwhelmed by the number of emails I got back. People feeling the same way, people telling me of their own difficult circumstances in other parts of the world, but most of all people being utterly warm and caring.  I've made an effort to reply to all of you individually but some did bounce so if you haven't had a response, please know that I read every single one and really appreciate you. taking the time and effort to get back to me.

OK - let's give you a newsletter….

Something old

This week was a bit of a milestone for me because I passed the 2,000,000 views mark on YouTube. I know that this is small potatoes for many YouTubers, but it made me happy. The thought that so many people (over a ten year period, admittedly - I'm not getting too carried away here!) have clicked on my videos really makes me feel that I've achieved something. I'm also 77 subscribers short of the 30K mark, so if you're not subscribed to my channel, what are you waiting for?! Head over there and hit the red bar! If you follow that link (whether or not you subscribe), you'll also find all of my free videos, so have a browse - see if anything looks interesting.

If you are thinking that you'd be interested in making videos like I do - selling online courses or promoting your teaching services, I've still got three places left on my Video Creation for Educators programme starting next month. See here for an example of how one participant is going to monetise this and if getting more control and freedom in your work life sounds attractive, just hit reply to this email and ask for details.

Something new

I've discovered a rather interesting phenomenon over the last month or so. The past few new videos I've put up on YouTube have had very prescriptive (and negative) titles like 'Don’t pre-teach vocabulary' or 'Don’t ask these questions in class'… Now, on the whole, I'd subscribe to the philosophy that talking about 'best practice' (or worst practice in this case) is a bit dangerous, because so much depends on your context. But guess what? The click rate has been waaaay above usual. So, on that basis, here's another one…. 'Don’t start your class like this'. (It does include some ways that I think are effective, too!)

Something borrowed

Finally, Eaquals has a great webinar series (all free) with lots of big names and this week (on Tuesday in fact), Thom Kiddle and Elena Deleyto La Cruz are talking about using authentic video in class. You can see the whole webinar series and sign up for this week's session here - I think it'll be really useful.

OK, that's it for this week. Thanks again for all your emails. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll see you next Sunday.

Best

Jo