I recently received a request for assistance/advice/recommendation from a colleague, a teacher of English as a Foreign Language from the beautiful city of Osorno, Chile.
My colleague needs your help, dear reader(s).
Please read the request for advice below from my colleague in Osorno. Then, after you finish reading, make your recommendation on my blog for my colleague to read.
Dear reader(s) and friend(s), I thank you in advance for your time, for your generosity, and for your willingness to help a colleague make a good decision about how to improve her English by taking a short course in the USA this summer…
Here below is the request for help I received:
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“Hi Thomas,
How are you doing? I´m writing you from Osorno. We met some time ago at a TESOL conference in Santiago, and I¨ve been following your blog and comments on the net since then. I would like to tell you that I´m planning to go abroad to study, but I don´t have much information about the places I could go to. I´d like to take a short course of 2 or 3 weeks during summer in the USA, and there are many offers on the net, but since I haven’t been abroad before I´m not sure if I could make the right decision. I would like if you could help me choose, or at least recommend some places where I could go to. My budget is not that much, so please remember (keep in mind) that it is a teacher´s budget haahahhaha. So, I need something that is good quality and not expensive… Please! 
Looking forward to your comments,
Best regards from your good friend in Osorno,
Your colleague!
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Soy Un Maestro (I Am A Teacher)
Soy Un Maestro: I Am A Teacher
Publication Date: July 1, 2012
I am a teacher, and I teach in Chile. This year a new Teacher Career Law, defining the teaching profession in terms of increased prestige, attracting more applicants from higher performing students, an obligatory enabling exam, higher salaries, fewer hours teaching in the classroom, and higher responsibilities wil be passed, hopefully. This book totally supports the idea that a good law is needed, and now is the time to pass one, even if that law is not yet perfect. We Teachers have such a long way to go, and this is clearly a tremendous step in the right direction. To celebrate, all of the funds received for the sale of this book will go to support the EdCamp Santiago free conference for teachers in Chile. Thank you, in advance, for buying this book. May God Bless You…
Soy el más afortunado de todos quienes trabajan. A un médico se le permite traer una vida en un momento mágico. A mí se me permite que esa vida renazca día a a día con nuevas preguntas, ideas y amistades.
Un arquitecto sabe que si construye con cuidado, su estructura puede permanecer por siglos. Un maestro sabe que si construye con amor y verdad, lo que construya durará para siempre.
File Size: 699 KB
Print Length: 143 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English/Spanish (Spanglish)
ASIN: B008GU48A4
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This book, “Unlocking Reading For All Students, shares reading fundamentals that were presented to a group of teachers at a school where I worked, Colegio del Verbo Divino, in Las Condes, in the city of Santiago de Chile. In this sense, it has undergone actual practical application of the concepts presented.
Further, in terms of theory, this book aims to share research on reading, and more importantly, how to help students unlock the key to a lifetime of pleasure and learning. It does not seek to cause controversy, rather, it seeks to serve as a reference for the first time teacher of reading and for the experienced teacher of reading who wishes to return to the basics of reading, as defined by the National Reading Panel in 2000.
Moreover, this book was made available, freely to the general public on “Slideshare.” After it has been viewed over seventeen thousand times (17,000) by teachers from all over the world, I am convinced of its value to you, dear reader, in your quest to “Unlock Reading For All Students“…
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The International Baccalaureate [Kindle Edition]
The International Baccalaureate [Paperback]
The global search for high-quality education, embedded in high-performing education systems, has taken on mythical proportions, almost resembling the alchemists’ quest to turn common metals into gold.
It is my hope that the present day search for global education, equitable and providing equality of opportunity for all, shall not cease until the “gold” we seek, has been found.
I therefore dedicate this book to all the educators, researchers, parents and students the world over, who strive to achieve this elusive goal,high-quality education for all the citizens of the world.
In this endeavour, it is my belief that the International Baccalaureate merits a closer look, based on their more than 40 year history of delivering consistently excellent results.
I add that all of the reflections and views in this book are mine alone, unless otherwise noted, and can not be attributed to my employer or any other organization I am affiliated with, past or present. For any errors or oversights, I bear the complete responsibility.
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Amazon Author Page: Thomas Jerome Baker
Thomas Baker is the Past-President of TESOL Chile (2010-2011). He is the Head of the English Department at Colegio Internacional SEK in Santiago, Chile.
He is the Co-Founder and Co-Organiser of EdCamp Santiago, free, participant-driven, democratic, conversation based professional development for teachers, by teachers. EdCamp Santiago 2012 was held at Universidad Mayor in Santiago.
Thomas is also a member of the Advisory Board for the International Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association (HETL), where he also serves as a reviewer and as the HETL Ambassador for Chile.
Thomas enjoys writing about a wide variety of topics. Thus far, he has written the following genres: romance, historical fiction, autobiographical, sports history/biography, and English Language Teaching. He has published a total of forty four (44) books overall.
The source and inspiration for his writing comes from his family, his wife Gabriela, and his son, Thomas Jerome Baker, Jr.
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