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How good is your CV?
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 12:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for sharing, wildgrace. You just may have inspired other teachers to create a digital portfolio of their work. Smile

ePortfolios aren't built in a day. Keep looking at other teacher portfolios on the Net for ideas to incorporate into your own web presentation. BTW, one of the more interesting ePortfolio photos I saw was of a smiling elementary school teacher standing at the entrance to her classroom, holding the door open and motioning students to enter. On the wall outside her room, there was a sign that stated "Welcome to Mrs. so-and-so's classroom". It made for a great promo photo.

I suggest indicating one's ePortfolio link in the CV summary/profile section as something like, ESL Teaching ePortfolio: [portfolio link]. (Recruiters/potential employers may not see the link if it's in the CV heading.)
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fluffytwo



Joined: 24 Sep 2016
Posts: 139

PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 10:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Wildgrace, and welcome to the forums.

On pp1-2 of your Expressing Future Plans lesson plan, you wrote:
Presentation

Teacher draws on the board the word “Future”. Teacher asks, “do you have any future plans?” Most students will probably say yes. Teachers [sic] asks, “what are some of your future plans?” As students [?]speak their answers the teacher adds them to the board, mind map style.

T: Often good things happen in the future. The future gives us something to look forward to. It’s also where we schedule things we need to do, or want to do.


If you Google "(D)o you have any future plans" or similar the results are all or primarily to do with things like life ambitions, reasonably substantial long-term projects etc rather than with quite ephemeral appointments or social arrangements. It would be better then to talk about simply 'plans' (and get to actual usage appropriate for the intended context) than 'future plans' or 'plans for the future' (which given the intended context seem like attempts at or shoehornings in of ultimately unnecessary notional-functional terminology - an area that is always hazy-fudgy at best, and hardly the sort of thing students should be expected to be sure about, or even realize you're on about!). So, drop 'future', and add the necessary time adverb, otherwise this will remain yet another example of how teacher talk can be pretty inauthentic, and potentially misleading or confusing.

Another is halfway down page 2, where the teacher says (or rather, is scripted to say)
Quote:
On the board is my calendar for the next few weeks. As you can see, I’m very busy. Today is Monday. If something is planned for the very next day what do we call that?


A plan? Tuesday? Oh, I seee, tomorrow.

Again, why not get straight into using some of the actual phrases that people employ when seeing if friends are available and wanting to do things on such and such a day? (For example, "Hey, are you free/doing anything/do you have any plans/anything planned on/for ___day? Cos …"). These are surely covered fairly well or at least somewhat in any halfway-decent, dialogue-based textbook.

And why the need to concept check (pp2-3~) the fact that entries in a diary or schedule were indeed entered at some point in the past, and concern whatever future days shown? Those things should be self-evident even if (indeed, especially if!) the student lacks the language to quite follow extensive teacher yakking~blathering. As I say, just use a simpler form of dialogue than all this overly-involved teacher talk/mere presentationese.

In fact, why not present the future uses of Present Progressive at more or less the same time that the present use is/was? It is after all just the simple addition of a fairly helpful disambiguating future time adverb that is the "problem" here.

Sorry if the above seems quite critical or combative but I don't think it's helpful for anyone to unquestioningly accept whatever gets posted online, and at least I've done you the courtesy of actually reading and examining some of your lesson plans in some detail. (You might want to correct your typos if nothing else LOL). I could even offer you feedback on some of your other lessons plans, but TBH I don't particularly like reading stuff that's to me a bit overwrought pedagogically (but not quite "overthought" enough).


Last edited by fluffytwo on Thu Jul 27, 2017 8:15 am; edited 10 times in total
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 10:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

fluffytwo:

If you're going to give (unsolicited) direct feedback to someone about content on their teaching portfolio, it would be best to do so via a PM.

Let's try to keep this thread about CVs.
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fluffytwo



Joined: 24 Sep 2016
Posts: 139

PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 10:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lesson plans given as supposed examples of something (otherwise why include them in a portfolio) are surely fair game for discussion here (or are we to learn absolutely nothing from them than they merely "look the part"?). If you're uncomfortable with your pedagogy and (lack of) linguistic taste or intuition being examined by anyone other than employers, don't post open links to it for all and sundry to see would be my advice. But back to the very interesting original topic (or indeed to unexamined portfolios) by all means, beats thinking about possibly improving one's teaching any eh.

Last edited by fluffytwo on Thu Jul 27, 2017 8:39 am; edited 1 time in total
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wildgrace



Joined: 17 Nov 2010
Posts: 55

PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 6:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nomad soul thanks for the support. Fluffytwo that was a lesson plan I created for a tesol class and it had to follow a very specific format. As a teacher I am always learning to be better, so comments are helpful.
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 6:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

BTW, here's a great list of categorized action verbs useful for CVs/resumes.
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 6:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Categorized Action Verbs" ?
I must have been absent when teacher covered that.
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fluffytwo



Joined: 24 Sep 2016
Posts: 139

PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 8:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If the format for that plan was that restrictive, then that's even more reason to rewrite or even completely remove it from your future Smile portfolio. Glad I could be of whatever honest service. Cool
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wildgrace



Joined: 17 Nov 2010
Posts: 55

PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 1:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

To ensure the thread stays on topic, please pm regarding any further feedback on the eportfolio.
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 8:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

scot47 wrote:
"Categorized Action Verbs" ?
I must have been absent when teacher covered that.

Or you were out catching flies... Cool

It's also a great list for advanced language learners who want to expand their vocab.
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Sun Mar 18, 2018 5:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

More tips...

Omit unnecessary wording when describing key responsibilities and achievements under each position you held. For example, instead of, "Provided assistance during student placements...," say, "Assisted with student placements..." Don't use full sentences -- those that begin with I. But also avoid short, generic statements like, "Graded students' writing." It doesn't include what that entailed.
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CTravel32



Joined: 01 Mar 2017
Posts: 85

PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 4:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank god my wife majored in business and HR and works in that field (as a CEO), she helped me to improve my resume. She says that 1 page resume rule is kind of outdated and BS these days but recommends that people keep it to 2 pages or less. However, if you are new and without much experience, keep it to a page otherwise, if you have a lot of experience, show it!

Thanks for the eportfolio and Career highlights at the top of the resume advice, two good ideas that went right into my resume. I also included (USA) right after my name as well and have noticed a slight uptick in responses from employers. Could be a coincidence but I doubt it.
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Elicit



Joined: 12 May 2010
Posts: 244

PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 2:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Time to update my CV and any recommendations reference the following much appreciated.

1) Qualifications. Newest or highest first in the list?
2) Where should I put an entry for academic journal peer reviewer?
3) As well as my main job, I do 2 part-time roles for other institutions that are relevant to future job applications. Do they go in the work experience section with all my full time jobs? If so, before or after my current main job? If not, do I need another section and what should it be named?
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 3:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Elicit wrote:
1) Qualifications. Newest or highest first in the list?

Generally, the highest degree or qualification is the newest (by date), which shows progression. But if you think of quals as a CELTA, Delta, BA, MA, etc., rather than combining them all in one group, separate them by type under specific categories -- one for academic degrees, the other for professional development. For example:

EDUCATION
    Ph.D., Curriculum and Instruction...
    M.A., Applied Linguistics...
    B.A., Social Sciences...
TEACHING & TRAINING QUALIFICATIONS
    Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (Delta), Module 1...
    Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA)...
Alternately, you can list them all under EDUCATION & TRAINING, but keep your academic degrees grouped separately from your training quals.

Quote:
2) Where should I put an entry for academic journal peer reviewer?

Under a separate category, either as OTHER or specifically, something like EDITORIAL ACTIVITIES. Be sure the author is okay with you including this on your CV.

Quote:
3) As well as my main job, I do 2 part-time roles for other institutions that are relevant to future job applications. Do they go in the work experience section with all my full time jobs? If so, before or after my current main job? If not, do I need another section and what should it be named?

Use OTHER EXPERIENCE, after your main experience section. However... Be aware that working outside of your contracted, full-time job is illegal in many countries. It will be obvious to prospective employers.

What are these roles? We might be able to figure out how to include them without it looking like you work on the side if that's a concern to you. Otherwise, include this experience on your CV only if relevant to the position you're applying to.
.
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rtm



Joined: 13 Apr 2007
Posts: 1003
Location: US

PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 8:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Elicit wrote:
2) Where should I put an entry for academic journal peer reviewer?

I'd suggest putting it in a section titled "Service" or "Reviewing". Indicate the name of the journal and, optionally, the year(s) that you reviewed manuscripts.
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