My passion, not my job!
Every day is a new learning and teaching experience
I love to learn and teach, and over the years I have learnt so much from my precious students! Teaching is who I am and it has taught me to go beyond the subject and the lesson and focus on the people, individuals with different needs who are learning or trying to learn; knowing about ‘each individual’ not only means investigating what they like and don’t like, but more importantly learn about their interests, culture, country of origin, and previous learning experiences. It is about establishing meaningful relationships, the springboard to a successful learning experience. I have never underestimated the value of the personal conversation, direct eye contact, the different styles of learning and teaching, and above all the importance of listening, simply listening. I have always valued what learners bring to the lesson in order to build on this knowledge and transfer it to a new teaching and learning experience.
“Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth learning can be taught.” Oscar Wilde
I started teaching at the British School, Bari in beautiful Puglia in the South of Italy and continued as a specialist primary school teacher in a lovely private school “Di Cagno Abbrescia” run by Jesuits in the same city. I went to ‘The Academy of Mary Immaculate, the oldest girls’ college in Victoria back in Australia where I was born so I was familiar with and appreciated the lovely location, lots of space and green areas where I could be as creative as possible; I applied TPR (Total Physical Response) in and out of the class and have written ‘Let’s move! Total Physical Response strategies for teachers, 2018 Pearson Italia, Milano – Torino. I still enjoy creating my own material for different classes, levels, and different learning styles, and try to motivate learners as much as possible. I have always been involved in lots of projects in both State & Private schools and enjoyed being a Cambridge examiner in lovely Puglia.
One day I received an invitation from Tim Priesack to attend a meeting in Milan. The focus of the meeting was to promote a new Primary and Secondary school brand, Lang Edizioni – Bruno Mondadori. The aim was to establish a Teacher Support Network to work side by side with English language teachers in schools in Italy; English Language Teacher Training. Over the years, I travelled mostly in the South of Italy, and along with many other TSN trainers we visited hundreds of schools, attended lots of ELT conferences, gave seminars, workshops and advice to hundreds of lovely and enthusiastic teachers; an enriching and rewarding professional experience which I still enjoy with Pearson , the world’s leading learning company. I remember the long hours spent on trains and buses whilst travelling within Puglia and moving from one region to another.
I have had the honour to write ‘Sing Along’ with Tim Priesack and ‘Let’s Celebrate’, a song and activity book with Joanna Carter, my long time friend and colleague. Today, I continue to work side by side with teachers and I am a Field Editor and Teacher Trainer for Pearson and would like to thank lots of people , and one in particular Anna Fresco, the most forward thinking professional I have ever met, and the person who continues to believe in me. I travel less these days due to COVID restrictions and am learning to teach and interact online, the reason for creating this website. I hope to continue to meet teachers and students on the field and online.
My students are in my heart. Thanks for teaching me how to be a teacher.
Always Learning is my truth!
Rabbit, a wonderfully versatile meat! Blending equally well with herbs, spices and white wine, rabbit meat is very lean, contains more protein, less fat and
Pasta e ceci is our very special recipe from Bari, and I am forever grateful to my mother who cooked these wonderful meals as we were growing up in Melbourne. Also known as garbanzo beans in Middle Eastern cooking and are the basis for delicious dishes like hummus and falafel.
Not sure about the origins of this sweet, but I certainly remember the delicious crostata (to encrust) my aunt used to make when I visited Bari the first time. Pasta frolla is the Italian short-crust pastry dough also used to make La Pastiera Napoletana (see Enzo’s recipe) and made with flour, sugar, butter, baking power, grated lemon/orange rind, eggs and homemade jam.
Butcher shops in Italy generally sell cleaned and par-cooked veal or beef tripe, the inner-stomach lining; do not try to clean it yourself! Believe me! There are many delicious regional versions in Italy.
Petito’s focaccia is light, fluffy and crunchy on the outside. He has taught his children and grandchildren to make it.
In this post you can get the ancient recipe…
The mermaid Partenope lived in the Gulf of Naples and the music of her voice spread across the ocean so the story goes… one day she received delicious gifts from the people who loved her…she received this delicious pastiera
Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.
This is the story about a very kind and generous man. His name is Nicholas. He came from Myra and he was a bishop. Throughout his life Nicholas expressed his love for God by helping people. His reputation for generosity and kindness gave rise to many legends of miracles he performed for the poor and unhappy.
One day Nicholas helped a poor man who did not have money to marry his daughters. Nicholas filled a bag with money and secretly gave the bag to the poor man. Shortly after the three daughters got married. The poor man thanked Nicholas for his kindness and generosity. Nicholas loved children very much. Saint Nicholas is the patron of children and of Bari. One reason we give gifts to one another at Christmas is to remember the kindness Saint Nicholas had for the people around him.
Rabbit, a wonderfully versatile meat! Blending equally well with herbs, spices and white wine, rabbit meat is very lean, contains more protein, less fat and
Pasta e ceci is our very special recipe from Bari, and I am forever grateful to my mother who cooked these wonderful meals as we were growing up in Melbourne. Also known as garbanzo beans in Middle Eastern cooking and are the basis for delicious dishes like hummus and falafel.
Not sure about the origins of this sweet, but I certainly remember the delicious crostata (to encrust) my aunt used to make when I visited Bari the first time. Pasta frolla is the Italian short-crust pastry dough also used to make La Pastiera Napoletana (see Enzo’s recipe) and made with flour, sugar, butter, baking power, grated lemon/orange rind, eggs and homemade jam.
Butcher shops in Italy generally sell cleaned and par-cooked veal or beef tripe, the inner-stomach lining; do not try to clean it yourself! Believe me! There are many delicious regional versions in Italy.
Petito’s focaccia is light, fluffy and crunchy on the outside. He has taught his children and grandchildren to make it.
In this post you can get the ancient recipe…
The mermaid Partenope lived in the Gulf of Naples and the music of her voice spread across the ocean so the story goes… one day she received delicious gifts from the people who loved her…she received this delicious pastiera