I read a wonderful piece on how to become a better blogger by Natasa, and another one on how to save energy when teaching and when writing by James. So I’m going to write a short post on why working WITH somebody can mean so much.

There’s power in numbers. I’m not saying anything new, we all know why it is good to cooperate, we try to teach it to our students, we try to involve them in group activities or pairwork but what do WE do as teachers to show them we believe in it? Do we cooperate inside our schools? How many of us are actually involved in a collaborative project inside our school?

My story is this: Since last year when I first found out about an ELT conference in Istanbul, Turkey and tasting its magnificent atmosphere despite being thousands of miles away, I wanted to take part and go there this year. It was a goal for 2011. I had been thinking about what to present in this conference but it seems I had something like a presenter’s block and I couldn’t come up with a good idea. This lack of inspiration was demoralizing and as time went by it kept getting worse.

But then one day, I was in the car with the person we will call my mentor from now on, and I tentatively asked if she would be interested in doing this with me. She was enthusiastic of course, being the open-minded person that she is, and from then on I can tell you it was rollercoaster of ideas! I was amazed at how while talking with her, new ideas kept springing up in my mind. We were discussing general education issues and then something new popped up, I could almost see the ideas floating in the car just like in cartoon films !

So we agreed about a basic idea about a month ago and recently we decided to sit down and work more specifically on it and come up with a decent proposal. My lack of inspiration was keeping me low. On Sunday, we had scheduled a meeting and while I was getting dressed to meet her I had another idea! Today, on our third meeting things cleared up even more and I am back on track, I think I’ve regained my creativity and boy, does it feel good!

But in order to make it more useful for you I think I have realized why this cooperation has worked so much for me:

1.       My mentor, is a person whose work I admire and respect. She has more experience than me, has done things I would like to do in the future and is a sound role model for me.

2.       My mentor is more theoretically educated than me, which gives me a good anchor, when I get away with my crazy ideas she always asks me the right questions: “Why do you want to do this, what is your aim and what are your objectives?”

3.       My mentor is very open minded and encouraging and I feel safe with her, even to make mistakes, even to say things that might not work out in the end. The fact that I can teach her some things too makes me feel equal and not at all insecure.

4.       Because of all these things, even scheduling an appointment with her, be it face to face or Skype or calling each other, puts me in the right frame of mind and brings back my creativity.

5.       The fact that she is a person whose whole attitude to life agrees with mine helps me to connect even more with her, to bond and be inspired by her example  and persuade myself that everything is possible.

All in all I am so excited I have met this person and our professional relationship is evolving as time goes by that I can’t help but advertise this kind of situation. Go out there and find a person that will inspire you and motivate you to work better, be it a colleague, a school advisor or a friend with similar interests. The difference will be huge.