Malu Sciamarelli 1.  What do you have on your bedroom wall? A framed poster of Slaapkamer te Arles (The Bedroom) by Vincent van Gogh 2. What’s the first thing you do when you get up? I grab a cup of coffee and check out email, Facebook and Twitter. 3. Do you have a pet? Yes, a shih tzu named Luna 4. What’s your favorite food from your childhood? A fish cake, my mother used to make it during the Holy Week. 5. What do you like most about teaching?  Designing materials and teaching in the classroom 6. What’s the best thing about going to a conference? Meeting your e-friends F2F + what you can get from presentations. 7. Do you read two or more books at the same time? I sometimes read 2 books at the same time. 8. Who is your hero?  My mother 9. What’s your favorite country to visit and why? The Netherlands...Especially the Hague...I don't know I think it is its buildings...or those sculptures buried in the sand. 10. What’s making you smile at the moment? A text message. 11. Life is too short to… be bittered.

Hana Tichá 1. If you could change one thing about education in your country, what would it be?   The ministers and local authorities  2. Have you ever thought of quitting your job as an educator? Why?   Yes, I wanted to be a graphic designer.  3. What's your earliest memory as an educator?  Teaching English to my classmates in high school - that was a start, right?  4. Is education valued where you live? If not, what is the main reason?   Not as much as it should. It has been neglected by most governments and over the last 15 it has been used to instill political values, nationalistic pride and now more tan before to worship the late "Hugo Rafael Chávez Frias".  5. How do you think we could help to make teaching a more prestigious job?  Taking the time to develop ourselves professionally. Now there are more opportunities than before especially online to be updated in your field / interests (IATEFL / TESOL webinars, The Electronic Village Online, The reform Symposium, The Virtual round table, MOOCs).   6. Apart from burning-out, what's the biggest danger for a teacher?  Low salaries (juggling jobs to get by) , lack of support from authorities and colleagues, a school year's routine. 7. Did anyone try to put you off teaching in the past?   No, no one.  8. Why do you think teaching can bring so much satisfaction but also frustration?   Well, we are dealing with people. The way people react to or show / manifest their "learning" varies from one person to another, from one group to another. So when we feel they learn we may feel elated; when they don't, we feel we are not doing enough. 9. What makes you happy?  Designing material, thinking of new activities to help my students learn.   10. When did you last laugh out loud?  Like about two weeks...with (Ok "at) my best friend.  11. If your child/best friend wanted to become a teacher, what piece of advice would you give him or her?   Well, try to do things to best of their abilities...Just make sure you love what you do.

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