My First Post of 2011 (on my new blog that is)

Hi Everyone, or Anyone, as the case may be. My name is David Mearns and although my bio gives you a brief summary of my career I just wanted to write it again as a blog, since this is my first blog on my own site, of 2011. I did actually come across a blog of mine from 2007 when they were just getting off the ground (as I could see- there were of course already thousands, hundreds of thousands, just no one connected to me had one). I had in fact set one up with a grade nine class of mine. I remember it as being fun, and students were certainly engaged at the time; however it was MSN that was the chat of choice, and that was how we really communicated :-(. But, to be honest, lots of other things were going on in my life, and it simply fell by the wayside as I moved house, changed jobs and started doing an MSc TESOL with Aston university in Birmingham, UK. Fortunately, now, though, I am back and with an ICT social-networking passion that means regular blogging.

It all started again for me when I was invited by an ELT colleague to post on her blog, Deniz Atesok ,and subsequently for Dave Dodgson a guy who I met at the Istek conference last year. Dave has set up a brilliant blog for ESL teachers to express themselves on a larger platform than the teachers' room at school or a cafe on Istiklal Caddesi. Each week he has a guest blooger posting away. It has been up and running now for over six weeks, so please check it out. It was really enjoyable and I thank him and Deniz for the opportunity to mouth off about my born again passion as an ELTeacher for a very exciting high school, Hisar Schools.

That is why I have decided to get one up and running again on my own. In fact I am putting the final touches to another guest post on Adam Simpson's blog which he will have for posting this week. Thus, once that is done, I plan to approach this blog-site discussing and sharing my methods, ideas and, lets not forget, complaints about the industry, for we wouldn't be ESL teachers without a nag and a moan on a daily and weekly basis.

So, as an opening foray into the blogging world, I will close and finish up Adam's guest blog. Rest assured I will be back very soon.... David M