Open Mailing Lists
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I’ve had a request for a post on the topic of free, open mailing lists (MLs). Many teachers are not members of organizations such as TESOL, for one reason or another, and so don’t have access to the MLs and online discussion groups provided by these organizations. MLs can be extremely useful–you get new ideas, colleagues to help you when you have a question, and sympathy when you have problems, without the cost of going to a conference or joining an organization. Everyone should join at least one or two MLs! So, here are some that don’t require any kind of paid membership–all are free. (This list does NOT include everything! If you know of a particularly good mailing list that isn’t included, please leave a comment.)
DISCUSSION GROUPS
Many MLs function as discussion groups that allow for all members the ML to ask questions, give their opinions, etc.
- TESL-L is positively venerable, existing since 1991. It is no longer very active, but still has a large membership and can be a good resource.
- The National Institute for Literacy: Adult English Learners Discussion Group is sponsored by the US government, but many of the discussions apply to anyone teaching adults. NIfL also hosts the Workplace Literacy ML and several other MLs.
- LINGUIST is the main ML for Linguist List; topics include everything related to linguistics, mostly at an academic level. LINGUIST is a one-of-a-kind, highly reputable, somewhat formal ML. (If you browse the archives, you’ll see a lot of famous names.) Book reviews are a feature, and applied linguistics books are often included.
- ITESL-J hosts a directory of ESL and EFL mailing lists.
- Linguist List also hosts or mirrors dozens more linguistics-related mailing lists on a wide variety of subtopics.
- Previously mentioned: the Extensive Reading ML.
ONE-WAY MAILING LISTS
One-way mailing lists are like newsletters: sent out for you to read, not as a forum for discussion. However, you can often respond or ask questions by e-mailing the author directly.
- Tomorrow’s Professor, hosted at Stanford, sends out posts twice a week on a variety of general academic topics. Many posts relate specifically to American higher education, but others are relevant to any kind of educational or educational leadership situation. (They’ve recently added a Tomorrow’s Professor Blog where discussion can take place.)
- World Wide Words is a newsletter-style ML about the history and usage of English. Not strictly relevant to teaching, but fun for language-lovers.
NOTE
Mailing lists used to be more popular than they are now in these days of blogs and RSS, but not everyone is familiar with how they work. Here’s a little information to help you get started or improve your ML experience.
The One-on-One Teaching Life
My job is a little unusual. I’m not a Freeway Flyer, tenured community college instructor, or IEP teacher–I’m essentially a tutor, although I usually don’t use that word to describe my job.
I think “tutor” makes people think of a college student earning a few dollars by teaching the neighbor kids how to do algebra, but I see myself more as a language and culture consultant. I’m still somewhat new to this, but so far I really, really like it, and I want to keep doing it.
My students, or clients, are adults (except for one 14-year-old) from East Asia. We do everything–from working through “Blue Azar” to editing accounting reports, from reading comics to discussing why American businesspeople don’t generally go out drinking together. I often play “cultural informant,” as my anthropology professors would have put it: trying to predict how a client’s boss might react to a gift, or helping interpret a grocery store ad. For me, these exchanges are exciting and rewarding.
Most of my current clients are through a large corporation that handles international relocation–the clients’ companies pay the corporation for a package that includes English lessons for them and their families, and the corporation pays me. The corporation lets me manage everything myself beyond an initial needs assessment, so I have almost total freedom to teach the clients as I see fit. Other students are direct clients.
Because I’m considered a consultant/contractor by the corporation, and because my direct clients have hit a certain critical mass, I’m in the process of becoming a business. I’m an educator and an entrepreneur. (I should be filing my business license tomorrow!) I’ll do occasional posts about this process, because I think there’s relatively little information out there.
While I’ll write about some of the drawbacks of this arrangement later, let me give you some of the advantages:
- I have total academic freedom (materials, topics, methods, everything)
- No power struggles or politics
- I can set my own schedule
- I can work more or less according to my time and budget
- I can cancel or reschedule lessons any time
- I really get to know my students (and I never worry about multilevel classes)
- Socializing with clients is okay (I don’t give grades or feedback to their bosses)
- Students get really focused, personal attention
- I don’t have to commute–some clients come to me, but all are within a 5-mile radius
- I never get bored–every client is different, and I get to learn about new fields
- Clients are seriously motivated and appreciative
- No pressure to teach to a test
- No classroom discipline issues
- I can “fire” my students if I want to, though I’ve never had to
- And finally (don’t hate me!) no stacks of papers to grade!
If you’ve done this kind of work, what are some other advantages? I know I’m missing several.
The disadvantages are not insubstantial, though. I’ll definitely be discussing the many drawbacks and how I’m trying to address them.
If you have questions about doing this kind of work, leave me a comment and I’ll do my best to try to answer in a future post.
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