A Teacher's Wish List

I am always saying that I think gratitude is the most important attitude if a person wants to be happy. And this is true. When we focus on the good things we have, beautiful experiences, and loving people in our life we can really appreciate how lucky we are and feel thankful. When we focus on things we want, our disappointment, and the problems in our relationships, we are dissatisfied and feel unhappy. That is simple.

That said, there is definitely a time to look forward and think about the life that we want in the future. Not in a way that makes us feel dissatisfied with the life we have today, but in a way that inspires us and makes us thankful for the ability to become that person we can imagine. There is nothing wrong with dreaming. Dream big.

So here is my Wish List...a list of dreams for future me...

• I would like to have the physical strength and mental ability continue to teach until I die. That is kind of the long term dream and I know that at some point someone is going to probably say to 80-year-old me: "Um...Joe teacher...I think it's time to take a rest..." Heck no. As long as I can walk and talk I am going to be teaching.
• I would like to continue to develop fun and exciting ESL materials and never stop looking for new ways to make the classroom a fun place to be. I never, ever want to see a person sleeping in my class because they are bored. If they are sleeping because they are sick or tired that is ok.
• I would like to develop programs to help my students have more inter-cultural experiences. I believe that cultural immersion is the single fastest way to grow second language ability. I would like to at some point form a relationship with teachers at a university in another country and use travel and technology to share classrooms.
• I would like to have a smart classroom that was dedicated to ESL. For example, each desk would have recording and live transcription of the student's conversation so they could see the mistakes they made and the corrections. This technology is available now, but it is expensive. 
• I would like to see the English Program move to a paperless system where each student was provided with an iPad on arrival and the books, websites, class materials, homework, and exams were all provided online. It would save the students and the school a lot of money and it would help the environment.

These are just a few things I have thought of. Some of them are fairly easy and some of them are probably impossible. But all of them will happen if I make them happen.