Scripta Manent

I got a message today from the National University Library. Scripta Manent, the new peer-reviewed journal of the Slovene Association of LSP Teachers, has received its ISSN assignment! So what, you might say.
I’m editor of this journal and I spent months with the editorial board devising the journal’s aims and policies. And we are reasonably satisfied with the results so far. Time has now come to make the next step and go public.
The name of the journal comes from the Latin saying “Verba volant, scripta manent” (spoken words fly away, written words remain). On the one hand, we’d like to encourage LSP teachers to record and share their observations and reflections on the practical aspects of LSP teaching and this way contribute to the development of the discipline as well as help teachers gain respect for what they’re doing. On the other, we’d like to open up a much needed dialogue between LSP teachers.
I’m not sure we’ll manage to reach our aims. That depends now on LSP teachers in Slovenia and elsewhere.
Well, whatever the outcome, I’ll know that I’ve done my best to make an idea that I felt passionate about come true. And that counts too.

Back again

I’m sorry for this long absence. I’m still hanging around, still reading blogs and thinking about blogging. Actually, I’ve been experimenting with my second year students, trying to share my enthusiasm for learning and for English. (You can read the posts that I shared with my students here.)
Unfortunately, I’m not very successful at making students blog. I took them to the computing lab three times, and they seemed to like it. The majority was proud of their blogs. However, the number of posts in their blogs is really small.
I know that I should have demanded that they respected the deadlines for the individual posts. Instead I tried to attract them to writing by giving them a reason to write. Obviously, this wasn’t a good idea. It’s difficult to motivate students if they are not motivated themselves. The computing lab was also closed for students too often. Under such circumstances the process of making students blog takes longer, I guess. But I’m not giving in. There’s another semester in October and I’ll make sure we’ll start blogging on the very first day. And I’ll introduce deadlines and book the computing lab for them at least twice a week. Perhaps that’ll do the trick.

Life goes on so fast. There’s so much to do. One thing is really important to me: I need to take time off on a regular (that is daily) basis to enjoy my children. Spring is here, so we go for a walk by the sea, work in the garden (my daffodils are in bloom), draw, play games, bake cakes ... and argue loudly about their duties (tidying their room, putting things back to where they belong and other daily trivia). And when I tuck them in their beds in the evening, I’m exhausted. But they’re worth it. I think I’ve become a better person because of them.